We Are Grounders: Healer
by TomorrowWillBeBetter
Summary: Chandra was born on the ground, but she's as much tree person as she is sky person. She leaves the grounders that she grew up with when the hundred land on Earth, and not only might she find a home with them, but she may also find love.
1. I

Chandra kept one hand on the dagger strapped to her side as she navigated through the trees. She had to get to the boy before anyone else—or rather, _anything_ else did. He was strung up in a clearing a small way from her village, partly as a warning to the sky people to leave back to the sky and partly as bait for food. The only reason Chandra knew where he was hung up was because she had the task of healing his wound.

The boy came into view. Chandra paused in front of the tree he was tied to, examining the boy for a moment. He was skinny, much skinnier than any of the grounders, but that could be explained by the need to be well muscled in order to survive. Weakness was fatal; both mental and physical. She began to untie the ropes binding him to the tree when her keen hearing picked up on people approaching. She sprinted to the nearest tree, climbing up with ease.

A small group of the sky people emerged from the trees on the opposite side of where Chandra was hiding. A blonde woman cried out what seemed to be a name and ran to the boy's aid—only to fall straight into the trap intended for the animals. Chandra let out a small gasp, expecting the woman's life to end right then and there, but at the last second she was caught by a tall tan skinned man. Chandra, for a moment, was perplexed by his beauty, but narrowed her eyes at him when she realized he was going to drop her. He didn't look like he was capable of killing one of his own, and that was reflected in his eyes as he seemed hesitant to let go. The question of whether he would do it or could do it was left unanswered as the rest of the group helped the blonde woman up.

Chandra watched in interest as the group started at the sound of a growl. Chandra knew what it was; it was the exact animal the trap was made for. The wild feline had been terrorizing a small village a way west from hers, and had already taken the lives of two civilians.

The animal lunged at the tall tan skinned man until a dark skinned boy shot at it with some sort of mechanical device, similar to the ones the Mountainmen used. This only angered the feline, who lunged again but was shot again in midair, falling right at the feet of the tan man.

Chandra smirked. That was two near-death moments in the span of five minutes. Maybe that would be enough to scare them back to where they came from.

The group continued to untie the boy. Within minutes they had taken the cat and the boy, and were gone. Chandra was content; the boy's people would hopefully heal him.

The following day.

Chandra positioned herself in a tree just outside of the sky people's camp. She had been there earlier today and heard the pained cries of the boy, and knew that his people weren't able to heal him. She had returned with the plant that they needed and her supplies, which were in a pouch around her waist.

She hopped down from her tree and approached the camp. The sky people were building a wall, and Chandra smiled. It was a good idea. However, it would be of no use if her people were to decide to attack. Her smile dropped as a knife was thrown at her head, narrowly missing it.

"Grounder!" With that one shout, the entire camp went into frenzy. She rolled her eyes. Four of the sky people surrounded her, the others stood at a safe distance. A crudely made knife was pointed straight at her throat by a crooked nosed boy whom Chandra recognized from the day before.

"I come in peace," she tried. A few of the teens gasped and murmured about themselves. The knife only pressed closer to her throat. The blonde haired girl from the day before emerged from the large metal structure in the middle of the camp.

"What's going on?" Her friends from before were right behind her.

"I am here to help," Chandra explained." I know your friend is dying and I'm here to heal him." The blonde girl seemed hesitant, so Chandra went on. "Let me heal him. I was the one who healed him before, except this time I'll finish the job. Besides, you have nothing to lose." This got her attention.

"Alright," she sighed, and the people around her yelled out in protest. "Murphy, let her go." The boy who held the dagger to Chandra's throat, Murphy, clenched his jaw, keeping the knife where it was. The blonde haired girl repeated his name, and slowly, he dropped the knife. Chandra smiled at him gratefully, a smile he didn't return.

"Follow me." The blonde haired woman turned and stepped into the metal structure, and Chandra followed.

She was amazed by the things inside the structure. She had never seen such machinery before. These sky people seemed to be more advanced than her people. She paused only for a second to gaze at the metallic items before following the blonde woman up a ladder onto another floor of the structure.

Chandra's heart dropped at the sight of the boy. He was laying on the hard metal floor, and he looked much worse than he did a day ago. She sat down cross legged next to him, and she couldn't stop herself from running a hand over his forehead and pushing the sweat soaked hair away from his face. It was a tender gesture, and she could feel the eyes of the four other people in the room boring into her. She looked up at them, cleared her throat, and pulled out her sack of healing supplies.

As she organized her supplies, the blonde woman spoke up.

"What's your name?" She asked. Chandra couldn't tell if she was genuinely curious or was just trying to start conversation.

"Chandramukhi," She replied. She chuckled at the perplexed look on the blonde's face. "But you can call me Chandra." The blonde smiled.

"I'm Clarke." She pointed to the dark-haired boy working on some sort of mechanical device in the corner. "That's Monty." The boy nodded at her but was still looking at her warily. Clarke gestured to the long-haired boy sitting next to her. "This is Finn." Finn looked at her with the same cautious look, but nodded nonetheless. "Wells." Clarke seemed a little bitter when she said that, but Chandra shook it off and returned the smile the dark-skinned boy sent her way. "And this is Octavia." The girl didn't even bother being hospitable; her pretty features were twisted as she glared steadily at Chandra. Chandra coughed awkwardly and pointed to the boy lying on the ground.

"What's his name?"

"Jasper." Chandra nodded and whispered the name to herself, wondering why the sky people had such unusual names. The rest of the time she worked on healing Jasper continued in silence. Clarke watched her closely as she used the seaweed to create a paste which she rubbed into Jasper's wound. The boy would cried out in pain ever few seconds due to the pressure on his wound, but Chandra would calm him down but shushing him and running a hand through his hair.

Finally the deed was done, and Chandra started to pack her things.

"Here is the salve I used," she said, handing Clarke the paste. "It's an antibiotic. Apply it every few hours, and he should be completely healed in a day or two. He'll be in intense pain for a day, but that just mean's the antibiotic is doing its job and clearing his system of the infection. He'll be fine." Clarke smiled at her appreciatively.

"Thank you." Chandra simply nodded. Before she climbed down the ladder, she turned back to Clarke.

"And Clarke?" The girl looked up at her, eyebrows raised. "It would be best for you and your people to return to where you came from. My people do not take well to intruders." Clarke looked at her in confusion, and Chandra didn't give her a chance to respond before exiting the room.

Chandra ignored the glares and heated looks she got as she exited the camp, keeping her head held high. As she passed Murphy, he played with his knife suggestively, making a clear threat.

"Wait!" Chandra turned to see Finn standing a few feet away from her. "Why are you helping us?" Chandra smiled sadly.

"I have my reasons." With that she turned and left, leaving Finn with unanswered questions.

On her trek back to her village, a horn sounded. She cursed inwardly, knowing fully well what that meant. Acid fog. She changed direction towards caves she knew were closer than her village.

She sprinted into the cave, catching her breath with her hands on her knees. As she straightened, she was suddenly aware of an axe pointed straight at her face. Chandra refused to flinch, instead looking at the man holding the axe, her expression stoic. She recognized him as the tall tan skinned one from the day before.

"Charlotte, get behind me," He ordered, and the young girl with him complied.

"I am not going to hurt you." Chandra kept her stance relaxed and her face expressionless. She held up her hands to emphasize her point. The man looked surprised for a moment that she spoke his language.

"And why should I believe you? You're a grounder." Chandra rolled her eyes, dropping her hands.

"It makes no difference to me if you trust me or not." With that she sat down near the opening of the cave, raising her eyebrows at the man, daring him to argue. He squared his jaw and joined the younger girl, Charlotte, in the furthest corner of the cave.

"If it makes you feel better," Chandra started after a few moment of silence. "I don't trust you either."

Neither of the two took their eyes off each other, daring the other to try something.

Chandra was jolted awake hours later by Charlotte's screaming. Chandra instinctively pulled out her dagger and held it out in front of her, seeing the man jump awake as well and pull out his axe. She didn't even realize she was fallen asleep. The two glared at each other before realizing neither of them were the reason Charlotte was screaming. They looked at the girl and it became obvious she was having a nightmare. Chandra relaxed slightly and sat back down, watching as the man shook the girl awake.

"Bellamy, I'm scared," she whispered. The man, Bellamy, took out a small knife and handed it to the girl. Chandra watched their exchange with little interest. Soon enough the girl had fallen back asleep and the glaring contest between Bellamy and Chandra was back on.

The next morning when Bellamy awoke, Chandra was gone.


	2. II

Chandra had awoken as soon as the sun started to peek over the horizon and she swiftly exited her hut. It had been 9 days since the incident with the sky people and Bellamy.

She stood outside her hut, soaking in the newly risen sun. She stretched, and began walking towards the villages water reservoir to moisturize her parched throat.

Suddenly, and little girl appeared in Chandra's way.

"Channy!" The little girl beamed up at her, showing off her missing front teeth.

"Good morning, Nova," Chandra greeted in her native tongue, pulling the child up into her arms. The little girl's necklace glinted in the sunlight. It was a pendant that Chandra had made for her herself, made of chrysocolla, strung on a leather string. She'd made it for her after her father, and good friend of Chandra's, had been taken by the mountainmen. It was the color of Nova's eyes, which were inherited by her father.

Nova placed both of her hands on Chandra's cheeks in what seemed to be a display of affection.

"Last night I made a meal all by myself," Nova boasted. Chandra smiled.

"Did you really? Wow, you're so grown up now, aren't you?" Nova grinned, swelling with pride.

"Tonight I'll cook for you because I know you have no one who will." Chandra's grin faded to a sad smile, though she knew Nova meant no harm by her comment. She opened her mouth to respond when a shrill shout interrupted her.

"Nova!" Both Nova and Chandra snapped their heads in the direction of the shout, to see Nova's mother stomping over to where the both of them stood. Her mother roughly snatched Nova from Chandra's arms.

"What did I say about talking to her?" She scolded, shooting a nasty look in Chandra's direction. Chandra didn't respond, instead choosing to mask her irritation with a cool expression. Her anger boiled, however, as Nova's mother turned away and muttered something underneath her breath, loud enough for Chandra to catch.

"Common whore, like her mother." Chandra clenched her jaw and curled her hands into fists resisting the urge to punch the mannerless woman. She waited until the two were out of sight before turning and marching back to her hut, her quest for water long forgotten.

She went straight to the back corner where a chest was placed, throwing it open. She shuffled inside of it until she found what she was looking for; a leather-bound handmade journal. She flipped through the pages until she found a polaroid photograph slipped between the pages, of a couple, a woman and a man seemingly in their early twenties. The woman was almost 2 heads shorter than the man, with dark brown skin, much like Chandras, and hair the color of soot. Her face was round and sweet, with captivatingly vibrant green eyes. The man looked tall and brooding. His skin, though lighter than Chandra's was still quite tan. His facial features were sharp; high cheekbones, a sharp nose, cat-like brown eyes. As Chandra gazed deeply at the photo, a splatter landed on the laminated surface of the photo, obscuring the colors below it. Chandra sniffed and wiped quickly at her eyes, realizing she'd begun crying. She shoved the photo into her satchel, shutting and locking the trunk. She threw her satchel over her shoulder and left her hut.

She couldn't stay in this village anymore. She suddenly felt as if the houses were too close together, and people around her walking too close to her. She ignored the judging looks she got as she exited the village. She knew where she needed to go.

She approached the other village after a while of walking. It was larger than her own, with plenty of empty space within its walls for training. This was where the warriors trained and lived. The weapons were also made here. But more importantly, this is where the chief lived. Anya.

Anya and Chandra's relationship was simple. Anya, the great leader, would turn to Chandra to relieve her stress and Chandra would be her outlet. Their relationship was mostly physical, but the two had grown to become great friends as well.

They used to see each other frequently, but ever since Chandra had given up being a warrior to become a healer, they only saw each other a couple times a between full moons.

Anya's hut sat in the very middle of the village, and as Chandra prepared to enter the hut, a spear blocked her way.

"Hello, Indra," Chandra greeted the woman, speaking the tongue of her people. Indra flared her nostrils in response. Chandra knew well that the women despised her; the feeling was mutual. "I'd like to meet with Anya."

"Anya doesn't want to meet with the likes of you," Indra spat back. "Now go back to where you ca-"

"Indra," a stern voice interrupted. Chandra's lips quirked in a confident grin as she saw Anya standing in the doorway of her hut. "Let her through." Indra glared at Chandra a moment longer before begrudgingly moving her spear. Chandra sent the woman one last triumphant grin before strutting past her and towards Anya. Anya turned and disappeared into her hut and Chandra followed. Inside a handful of warriors stood at attention in two rows leading up to a wooden throne on which Anya took her rightful spot, sitting cockily with her legs splayed lazily and her chin resting on her knuckles. Chandra paused for a second to admire Anya's beauty before falling to her knees before the throne, dropping her head.

"Leader Anya," she greeted, her voice low. When she looked up, the corners of Anya's mouth twitched upwards.

"Enough of the formalities" she drawled. Chandra smirked. She stood and sauntered to the throne, sitting on its arm, her legs resting between Anya's spread knees. Anya rested her hand on Chandra's thigh, slowly caressing it.

"Chandra," she began. "It's been too long since you've visited." Chandra smiled, not oblivious to how Anya's hand was climbing higher and higher on Chandra's leather clad thigh. Instead of replying, Chandra bent down and captured Anya's lips in hers, biting on her bottom lip the way she knew Anya liked. One of Anya's hands reached up and released Chandra's hair from its tail, the other cupped Chandra's bum, pushing her completely onto her lap. Chandra straddled Anya, and pulled her lips from hers to shrug off the fur overcoat. Before she could kiss her again, Anya pressed a finger to Chandra's lips.

"Let's take this more private," she whispered, shifting her eyes to the guards that Chandra had long forgotten about. They were obviously uncomfortable, trying their hardest to avoid looking at the two. Chandra was glad for her dark skin because if she was lighter, she was sure she'd be bright red.

Chandra climbed off of Anya's lap and let Anya lead her to a room just behind the throne, and they picked up right where they left off.

Hours later, the two collapsed onto the bed, untangling themselves as they caught their breath.

"Which round what that?" Chandra asked breathlessly, laying on her back. Anya faced Chandra, propping herself up on her elbow.

"I don't know," Anya admitted confessed lazily. "I lost count after 15."

"15?" Chandra blanched. "I lost count after 6!" She fell into a fit of giggles, and Anya watched her, smiling lightly to herself.

"Well, that's what happens when you don't visit for 2 full moons." Chandra sighed.

"Sorry," she apologized solemnly. But then a grin spread across her face. "I don't even have an excuse!" She broke out in giggles again, and even Anya let out a chuckle.

Chandra composed herself and sighed. She pulled her fur overcoat from where it was discarded on the floor and pulled it over her shoulders before walking over to a window. The sun had gone down. She stared out into the dark trees and bit her lip.

"I saw the sky people a few days ago," she admitted to Anya. She didn't need to look at her to know she was frowning.

"Did you speak to them?" Chandra considered lying. She decided to tell a half truth.

"Yes," she confessed. "I simply told them to go back to where they came from."

"That was unnecessary," Anya responded, rolling over until she was laying on her stomach. Her voice came slightly muffled through the pillow. "I think having one of their own speared and strung up was enough of a warning." Chandra clenched her fist at the mention of Jasper. She didn't respond, instead she hummed, not quite agreeing with Anya but not disagreeing either. She began grabbing her clothes and dressing herself.

"Leaving so soon?" Chandra rolled her eyes.

"You almost sound like you'll miss me," she retorted. Anya scoffed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." She replied. Chandra smiled, knowing that was Anya's way of saying 'I'll miss you.'

"Sleep well," Chandra said as she left the room.

Most grounders rose and slept with the sun, so most of the village was asleep. It was quiet. Chandra wondered if the sky people would be awake. She only let herself ponder for a moment before deciding she'd see for herself.

She hadn't even reached the gate when she heard the commotion. She quickly turned to the nearest tree and climbed it, slipping from tree to tree until she approached the camp. Right outside of the gates, there was a large crowd, screaming and chanting. Chandra gasped as she saw what was at its center.

A boy, beaten and bloodied, was on top of some sort of box, with ropes tied around his throat.

Chandra's eyes widened as she realized the boy was Murphy. He was saying something, his gaze directed at Bellamy.

Why wasn't Bellamy doing anything? Unless the boy was being punished for a crime. That must be it. But if that was the case, why was Murphy pleading so desperately? Had he not done it? Had he not been given a trial, then? Many questions swirled through Chandra's brain, but her mind went blank as Bellamy kicked the box out from under Murphy's feet. Chandra couldn't help but feel a bit queasy at the sight of Murphy struggling, kicking his feet and swinging. He was suffocating to death.

"Stop!" A shrill voice cut through the crowd's cheering. A girl, no older than 13, stood in the middle of the crowd. "Murphy didn't kill Wells. I did." The crowd went into a shock, the only person that moved was Clarke who grabbed Bellamy's axe and cut down Murphy. He hit the ground with a sickening crunch. No one helped him up and Chandra felt a stab of pity for the boy.

Clarke grabbed Charlotte and ran back into camp, Bellamy, Finn, Jasper, and Octavia following close after. After a few seconds the rest of the delinquents shuffled back inside, just a couple stayed back to help Murphy.

Once they were all gone Chandra stalked closer to camp, and quickly picked up Murphy's voice. He was shouting at the crowd.

"So it's okay to string me up for nothing," he ranted, "but when this little bitch _confesses _you wanna let her walk?" The crowd didn't answer. Bellamy came out of a tent, but Murphy continued.

"Cowards!" He accused. "All of you are cowards!"

"Hey, Murphy," Bellamy called. walking closer to him. "It's over." Murphy seemed to back down, shrugging his arms.

"Whatever you say boss." Bellamy nodded, turning and walking away. In a split second, Murphy grabbed a log and hit Bellamy in the head with it, knocking him out. Octavia screamed in protest. Jasper tried to attack him but Murphy punched him in the face. Murphy ran to the tent, pulling open the flap but obviously found it empty, because he turned around, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Charlotte!" Chandra shivered at the anger in his voice. "Charlotte! I know you can hear me and when I find you, you are gonna pay!" He turned to his lackeys and screamed at them to move. They grabbed torches and ran out into the forest. Chandra followed at a slow pace, following Murphy's yells.

She caught up to him right as he got to a clearing next to a cliff.

"Bellamy!" Bellamy looked up at the sound of Murphy's voice, putting a protective arm in front of Charlotte. "You can not fight all of us. Give her up." Bellamy stood strong.

"Maybe not," he said, getting ready to fight, "but I can guarantee I can take a few of you with me."

Just then Clarke and Finn rushed into the clearing.

"Bellamy! Stop!" Clarke turned to Murphy. "This has gone too far. Just calm down, we'll talk about this." Murphy thought about it. He seemed to be giving in, but grabbed Clarke instead, pushing the knife into her throat.

"I'm sick of listening to you talk," he growled.

"Back off," he snapped at Finn when he tried to get to Clarke. "I will slit your throat." Chandra fought the urge to interfere; she would only add fuel to the fire.

"No, please," Charlotte suddenly spoke up. "Please don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy paused. "Fine. I'll make you a deal. You come here, and I'll let her go."

Clarke pleaded Charlotte not to do it, but the girl still agreed to the deal, stepping forward only to be held back by Bellamy.

"No!" she screamed. "I have to!"

"Murphy," Bellamy fumed, "This is not happening."

"I can't let any of you get hurt because of me," Charlotte continued. "Not because of me. Not after what I did."

She was going to jump.

Chandra clasped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming out as Charlotte turned and jumped over the edge of the cliff, her body disappearing into the abyss.

Clarke screamed her name, and Murphy's grip slackened enough to let her run to the edge. Murphy seemed to be in shock, his eyes were wide, his breathing uneven and heavy. Chandra knew then that he would never have been able to kill the girl. No, Murphy, didn't have it in him.

With a shout of anguish, Bellamy attacked Murphy, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Bellamy punched Murphy over, and over, and over again, until Finn pulled him off.

"Bellamy! Stop!" Clarke screamed. "You'll kill him!"

"No!" Bellamy protested. "He deserves to die."

"No! We don't get to decided who lives and who dies. Not down here."

"So what do we do, huh?" Bellamy asked incredulously. "We just take him back, and act like nothing ever happened?"

"No!" Clarke glanced at Murphy and swallowed thickly. "We banish him." Bellamy looked down at the ground, then back up at Clarke. He grabbed Murphy by his collar, holding him over the edge of the cliff.

"If I ever see your face near camp again," he growled. "We'll be back here." With that he tossed Murphy to the ground, and turned to his lackeys. "As for the four of you, you can come back with me, or you can go off with him to die. Your choice." His words hung in the air as he left in the direction of camp. Clarke and Finn followed him, and the four teens left last. Murphy lay on the ground groaning in pain.

Chandra hopped down from her tree and stopped in front of Murphy, who flinched and inched away from her.

"Let me help you," she said, holding out her hand for him to take. When he simply stared at it, she raised her eyebrows and shook it a little, urging him to take it. Finally, he grabbed it, and Chandra pulled him up.

"First thing we need to do is clean off all this blood," she thought aloud as she turned, hinting that he should follow. When she didn't hear his footsteps, she turned and waved, and begrudgingly he did. She lead him to a creek in silence.

"Sit." She motioned to two large rocks on the side of the water. Murphy sat down on one of them and Chandra sat on the other so the two were facing eachother. She took off her fur coat, and ripped a piece of fabric from her undershirt. She dipped it in the cool water.

"This might sting a little," she warned before applying it to his face.

"Why are you helping me?" His voice had a little more sass than necessary, but Chandra ignored it.

"Your people ask me that often," she joked. When he didn't laugh she continued. "I have my reasons."

"And what are those reasons?" Chandra smirked.

"I do not owe you an answer," she retorted, rinsing the cloth before resuming her work. "But I will tell you one reason." She looked him in the eyes. "I don't think what your people did to you is exactly fair or humane."

"And what would grounders know about either of those things?"

"I am going to pretend like that comment was not extremely offensive." Murphy's lips twitched at that. "They did not give you a trial. I myself am not completely sure as to why they banished you. You did nothing." Murphy stayed quiet for a few moments.

"I killed a little girl," he whispered. "I'm sure you saw it." Chandra stopped cleaning his wounds to look at him. His shoulder drooped, guilt covered his features.

"Murphy." She shook her head. "You did not kill anyone today. She killed _herself_. Because of the guilt that _she_ felt because of what _she_ did. She deserved it." Murphy seemed appalled.

"She was just a child," he protested.

"Hardly," Chandra shrugged. "I was younger than her when I began training to become a warrior. About her age when I made my first kill."

"You're a warrior? I thought you were a healer."

"Was a warrior," she corrected. "Now I'm only a warrior need to be." Murphy nodded.

"Anyway, I believe your people banished you so they would not have the guilt to carry if they had killed them yourself. You're as good as dead out here anyway." Murphy didn't respond, and she finished cleaning his wounds in silence.

When she was done, she stood up and shrugged on her coat.

"Good luck," she said. "You'll need it." Murphy simply gazed at her. On second thought, she reached to her hip and pulled out her dagger.

"Actually," she said, handing it to him. "Take this. You will need it more." He took it, silently thanking her. She turned and walked away from him.

"Wait," he called, making her stop and look at him. "Please... don't leave me out here alone." Chandra faltered. At that moment, Murphy looked like a child. He was scared. Chandra looked away from him.

"Forgive me," she whispered, before she left him by the creek alone.

Chandra approached the sky people's camp mere moments later. Again, she stopped to marvel at the gate they'd set up in just a few days. And again, she was held at knifepoint as she entered the gates. By Bellamy.

"Now's really not the best time," he growled. His eyes were red.

"I'm not here to see you," she responded. "I want to see the boy I healed. Jasper. I need to see if he is okay."

"He's fine, now leave." Bellamy turned, but Chandra gripped his arm.

"Let me see him," she demanded. "Now." Bellamy snatched his arm away from her.

"Fine," he snapped. "He's in the dropship." He motioned to the large metal structure, what they call a 'dropship', and Chandra nodded, heading in it's direction.

When she entered, she saw Monty, working on a glowing object, with Clarke, Finn, Jasper, and Octavia crowded around him. They all turned when they heard her climb up the ladder, and suddenly they were all alert, so Chandra held up her hands.

"I'm only here to see Jasper," she explained. Jasper furrowed his eyebrows, turning to Clarke.

"Who is she?" Chandra was slightly offended, but shook it off. Clarke smiled.

"Jasper, meet Chandra," she motioned to Chandra. "She's the grounder that saved your life."

Suddenly Chandra was engulfed in a hug.

"Oh, God," Jasper gushed. Chandra made eye contact with the other 4 in the room, who were all as surprised as she was. "Thank you, so much." He pulled away, holding her at arms length.

"If it weren't for you I'd probably be, like, dead." Chandra raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," she said slowly. "That is exactly what you would be." Jasper grinned and let go, moving back to stand with the others. An awkward silence ensued.

"So," Chandra began, gesturing to the glowing item Monty was fussing over. "What are you people working on?" Monty didn't respond, hesitant to do so, but Clarke spoke instead.

"We're trying to communicate with the rest of our people," she explained. "We need to let them know we're alive."

"Your people from the sky?" Clarke nodded.

"Alright," Monty spoke up. "Jasper, would you like to do the honors?" Chandra watched with interest as Jasper took a wire from Monty, and carefully plugged it into the glowing contraption. Everyone's hopeful faces fell as the device sparked and smoked. "Was it supposed to do that?" Chandra asked innocently.

"I think I just fried all the wristbands," Monty groaned with a shake of his head. Chandra wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but by how angrily Finn stormed out, it mustn't have been good. Everyone watched in silence as Clarke followed after him.

"Well, I'm gonna go check up on my brother." Octavia awkwardly left, leaving just Monty, Jasper, and Chandra alone. Monty went back to working on the device, and Jasper went and sat against the back wall of the room. He put his head in his hands, defeated. Chandra crouched down next to him.

"I'm cursed," he moaned.

"Jasper," Chandra smiled. "You're not cursed." Jasper lifted his head.

"Unlucky, then." Chandra shook her head.

"You survived a spear through the chest," Chandra offered. "I would say you're pretty lucky." Jasper let out a laugh at that. Chandra reveled in the sound, inching closer to him.

"Yeah, all thanks to you." Jasper met her eyes, giving her a lopsided smile. Chandra smiled back. Her eyes flickered to his lips, and when she met his eyes again she knew he had noticed by the way pulled his bottom lip into his mouth. Chandra took note of how they seemed to be slowly gravitating towards each other, their faces mere inches apart. Her hand slipped over his that rested on the ground beside them just as their lips brushed. Chandra hesitated to press them fully against each other, and Jasper surprised her by closing the distance between them. The kiss was short and sweet, and when Chandra pulled away, Jasper's eyes were wide. Chandra bit her lip.

"I-I'll see you later," she stammered, standing and clumsily down the ladder. She was extremely flustered as she left the dropship, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't watching where she was going and slammed right into someone's chest. Hand gripped her shoulders, steadying her. She looked up to see Bellamy glaring down at her, shoving her off of him.

"Despite what Clarke and the rest of them say to you," he warned, "you are not welcome here." He gave her a threatening glance before walking past her. Chandra clenched her jaw, glaring at his receding back as if just by her eyes she could make his head explode. It didn't happen. She huffed and exited the camp.

The first rays of the sun barely peeked over the horizon as Chandra walked home. She glanced at the sky, smiling when she saw a shooting star. Her mother used to tell her stories of how when one wishes upon a shooting star, their wish came true. Chandra debated making a wish when she realized something was wrong. She furrowed her eyebrows as she noticed the 'star' was getting closer and closer to the ground. Her eyes widened as she realized that the 'star' wasn't a star at all; it was another dropship. She looked back in the direction of her village, then back at where the ship landed, and finally towards the camp she had just left. She sighed, turning back to the camp. Seems like she wouldn't be getting any rest tonight.

**AN: WOW this chapter is massive, 4k words I think. Longest chapter I've ever written haha. But so much happens in one episode that the rest of the chapters i've written (I'm up to chapter six, which is the Unity Day episode.)**

**ps. Also, I didn't get any reviews last chapter :( I debated not uploading until I got some reviews but nah I love writing this story too much. I'd still like some reviews though lmao. I need feedback!**

**PPS. right now I'm not sure who I want chandra to end up with, cause im not really focusing on that right now. This will ****_probably _****end up as bellamy/oc or Bellandra... or Chandramy(?) but that could change depending on what the readers want.**


	3. III

'When Chandra entered the camp, she was greeted by Octavia.

"You're back," she observed. Chandra nodded.

"Where's Bellamy?" Octavia pointed to his tent and Chandra nodded, walking past her to it.

"Bellamy-" Chandra's eyes widened as she realized Bellamy was not in his tent, and in his place was a half naked girl, another one under his blankets. "Forgive m-"

"Do you know how to knock, grounder bitch?!" She shrieked. Chandra was appalled at her rudeness, but turned to leave anyway. Right at that moment, Clarke barged in.

"Oh great, I guess it's a free-for-all, now!" To make it even worse, Finn rushed in seconds later. The girl grew livid.

"Ugh!" The three stumbled out, eyes wide. The awkward silence was broken by Finn.

"So," he started. "why are you here?"

"I saw a ship fall from the sky," she explained. The look on Clarke and Finn's faces showed that they had seen it too. "And as an inhabitant of this planet I believe I have a right to know what's in it." Clarke looked unsure about that. "If it's a danger to my people, they need to know. If it's not, you can have it. We don't want it." Clarke, after a moment of pondering, nodded.

"Fine," she agreed. "We think it's a pod with supplies to help us survive. But whatever's in that thing, Bellamy wants it. We need to get to it before Bellamy does." Finn and Chandra nodded in agreement, and the three set off to find the ship.

When they arrived at the pod, it seemed at first as if no one had been there before them. Chandra rushed forward before Clarke and Finn, throwing open the pod's door.

"Clarke!" she called. "You'll probably want to see this." Inside the pod was a person, and Chandra wasn't able to tell if they were alive or not. Clarke came to a stop beside her.

"Oh, my God," she exclaimed, reaching forward and shaking the person. They groaned, pulling off their helmet. Chandra examined the person underneath; it was a girl, around the same age as Clarke and Finn, with dark hair pulled up in a tail similar to Chandra's and dark skin. She looked around, as if she was astounded.

"I made it?" She sat up, pushing Clarke and Chandra out of the way as she took in her surroundings. Her eyes landed on Finn.

"Raven?" he asked, disbelief coating his voice.

"Finn!" She ran forward, engulfing him in a hug. "I knew you weren't dead." They kissed, to both Chandra's surprise and Clarke's. Chandra glanced at Clarke, frowning at the shattered look on her face. She elbowed her, getting her attention.

"Are you okay?" Clarke nodded, a bit too quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Raven and Finn finally separated enough for Raven to look at Clarke.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "You're Clarke. Your mom orchestrated this entire thing."

"You know my mom?" Clarke looked a little offended.

"Yeah," Raven shrugged. "She's a total bad ass. I wouldn't be down here if it weren't for her. Speaking of her, I should probably let her know I made it." She bent down into the pod, and came out a few seconds later.

"Where's the radio?" She asked, panic seeping into her voice.

"What do you mean?" Clarke asked. Raven rubbed her face, getting frustrated.

"My radio's gone. It must have fallen out during the landing." She groaned, kicking the pod out of anger. "The reason she sent me down was because the council was going to kill 300 people. We're running out of air." Both Clarke and Finn blanched. Chandra's eyes widened. 300 people? That was easily the size of 3 or 4 villages.

"What?" Clarke whispered.

"God, this is all my fault!" Raven groaned again.

"No, Raven it's not," Clarke said. "Someone got here before us. We have to find him." Clarke turned and ran back into the forest, the three teens right at her heels.

After walking for a while, Chandra caught sight of Bellamy's back a few hundred feet in front of them.

"There, I found him," she hissed at Clarke. The four ran forward, hurrying to catch up with him. Clarke shoved Bellamy a soon as she got near him.

"Where is it!" Bellamy smirked.

"Hey princess, going for a wa-"

"They're getting ready to kill for oxygen," Clarke interrupted him. "Bellamy. Where's the radio."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he growled. Then his eyes landed on Chandra as a scowl warped his pretty features. "And what's she doing here?"

"Chandra's helping, unlike you," Finn defended Chandra.

"Bellamy Blake?" Raven spoke up. "They're looking everywhere for you." Chandra assumed 'they' meant the people up on the ark.

"Why?" Clarke asked. "What did he do?"

"He shot Jaha." Everyone went silent at Raven's words, but Chandra was silent mostly because she was just confused.

"That's why you took the wristbands," Clarke concluded.

"You need them to think everybody's dead," Finn added.

"All that 'whatever the hell we want? You just care about saving your own skin." Clarke sounded disgusted, and Bellamy almost looked ashamed. Instead of apologizing, he just walked past them.

"Hey shooter!" Raven called, stepping in front of him. "Where's my radio?"

"Get out of my way," Bellamy warned. Raven stood strong. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"Oh really?" Raven stepped closer to him, challenging him. "Well I'm right here." Bellamy grabbed her by the collar, shoving her against a tree. Suddenly Raven had a knife to Bellamy's throat.

"Where's my radio." Her voice was low and demanding, and Chandra found herself smirking. The girl was stubborn, Chandra had to admit.

"Hey," Finn intervened. "Stop it." Bellamy let Raven go, stepping away from her.

"Jaha deserved to die," he defended himself. "You all know that."

"Not my favorite person either," Raven voiced. "But he's not dead." Bellamy's eyes widened.

"What?"

"You're a lousy shot."

"Bellamy," Chandra spoke up for the first time, deciding she could persuade him. "This means you're not a murderer. And today you can save 300 people. Where's the radio?" Bellamy met her eyes, guilt swimming in his own.

"It's too late," he admitted. "I threw it in the lake."

"Well I guess we have to go fish it out," Raven announced. Bellamy nodded and began to lead us towards the lake.

When they arrived, the five of them all started wading in the water. Chandra's hands grazed something that didn't feel like a rock, and she pulled it out.

"I think I found it," she called, and Raven and Clarke waded over to her. She handed it to Raven as everyone climbed out of the water.

"Can you fix it?" Clarke was desperate.

"I don't know," Raven admitted. "It'll take at least half the day to dry out the components and assess the damage."

"Like I said," Bellamy spoke up. "It's too late." Clarke whirled on him.

"Do you even realize what you did? Do you even care? 300 people are going to die because of you!" Bellamy narrowed his eyes.

"You asked me to help, I helped."

"Hang on," Chandra interrupted, glancing up at the the sky. She pictured the small speck she gazed at whenever she stargazed, the satellite that she knew the sky people lived on. "We can see the Ark from the ground, right?" Clarke nodded. "Then maybe we don't need to talk to them. They just need to know we're down here. If we can see them, then we can make them see us. We just need to make something big enough." Raven gasped.

"Chandra, you're a genius!" She turned to Clarke and Finn. "Flares. We can shoot flares, hopefully they'll see them and know we're down here."

Hours later,Chandra was helping the sky people set up the flares. She was working on screwing on a bolt when someone snatched the tool from her hand. Bellamy.

"Why are you still here?" Chandra sighed.

"It was my idea," she explained. "I should at least help set it up."

"We don't need your help." Chandra ignored him, grabbing another screwdriver and continuing screwing the bolt.

"Don't ignore me," he growled, grabbing her wrist roughly. Within seconds, Chandra had twisted her wrist from his grip and pulled his arm behind his back. He yelped in pain, and Chandra tightened her grip, making him groan.

"Do not take my kindness for weakness," she hissed in his ear. "If you put your hands on me again, I will make sure you regret it." With that she let go, and he fell to the ground. He quickly stood up, glaring at her one last time before storming off.

"He deserved that," a voice said from her left. Her face broke out into a grin when she saw Jasper smiling down at her.

"Hello Jasper," she greeted.

"Hey Chandra. Watcha up to?"

"Just setting up the flares, like everyone else," she answered. He nodded, and an awkward silence ensued. Chandra was almost thankful when Raven's voice was heard.

"Alright guys, time to light em up!" Chandra lit the one she was working on, and watched in awe as it shot into the sky. Jasper's arm came around her waist and she leaned into him, reveling in the contact. Her grin faded as she realized where the flare was going.

"Oh, my God." Happiness turned to absolute horror.

"Chandra, what's wrong?" Jasper's voice dripped with concern.

"Those flares," Chandra croaked, tears beginning to stream down her face. "That's where my village is." Jasper's eyebrows furrowed.

"M-Maybe it missed it," he offered. Chandra shook her head.

"I want to believe that." Her voice was hoarse. "I need to go." She slipped from Jasper's arms and fled the camp, sprinting towards her village.

A million thoughts ran through her mind, but the main one- She hoped desperately that she was wrong.

The smell of smoke attacked her senses as she approached her village.

Ash. Everywhere. She walked forward, mouth agape, eyes pouring. She fell to her knees. She was speechless.

Something glinted in the ashes, and Chandra crawled over to it.

It was a pendant. Made of Chrysocolla. Nova. Chandra screamed in anguish.

This was her fault. The flares were her idea. She lit the flare that killed these people. She killed children, innocent people.

Chandra stood up, wiping her tears. She had to see Anya, Anya would know what to do.

She ran, like she had never run before. She felt as if she was running from something, but she had no idea from what.

When she arrived at Anya's village, it was chaotic. People were running about, women were crying, children were screaming, until a yell silenced them all.

"You!" Indra had yelled, pointing her spear straight at Chandra. "You killed those people!" Chandra's heart stopped. Two soldiers grabbed both of her arms and dragged her to Anya's hut. As she passed through the people, they threw stones at her, and by the time she'd reached the hut, she was bleeding from multiple wounds. Chandra couldn't bring herself to care. She deserved it.

She was thrown at the foot of the throne, where she stayed on her hands and knees. A spear came underneath her chin, forcing her to look up.

"It's come to my attention that you've not only gone to meet the sky people on multiple occasions," Anya boomed, her voice dripping with authority, "But you were spotted there today, mere hours before the village was burnt down." Chandra cast her eyes down.

"Look at me!" Anya's voice seemed to shake the entire hut, and Chandra's eyes snapped up to meet Anya's. "Did you have anything to do with the flares?" Chandra swallowed.

"Yes," she croaked. Immediately, the hut exploded with noise. People shouted profanities at her, threw whatever they could get their hands on at her.

"Quiet!" The room went quiet at Indra's holler.

"Would you like to say anything in your defense," Anya questioned.

"I didn't know this would happen." This time the room stayed quiet, except for one shout. Indra.

"But it did!" A few noises of agreement rippled through the room.

"It is decided then." Chandra could have sworn she saw Anya's eyes shine with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. "Chandra of the medicinal village…" Chandra's fists clenched, afraid to hear Anya's next words.

"You are hereby banished." The same soldiers that carried her in gripped her roughly and dragged her out.

"Anya, I'm sorry!" Chandra tried to call out to her, but Anya simply disappeared into her sleeping quarters, her fur cape swinging behind her.

Chandra's head hung low as she was dragged from the village. People became violent, slashing at her with their knifes. A particularly large stone hit her head, and Chandra struggled to keep her eyes open. Blood was trickling down her face from various wounds, and even more covered her body. Her clothes were torn, her fur coat lost in the crowd. Her hair hung in a bloody mess around her head. The soldiers dragged her a ways out from the village before tossing her on the ground and disappearing.

Chandra struggled to her feet and began walking. She did not know to where. She stumbled about, her feet taking her somewhere her unconscious mind wanted to go.

The last thing she remembered was momentarily admiring the makeshift fence the sky people had managed to set up, before she fell to the ground and slipped into unconsciousness.


	4. IV

**AN: It's like you guys don't review unless I ask you to :(**

Chandra awoke on something cold and hard. Her head was pounding due to a headache and vibrations being sent through whatever she was laying on. Thunder and rain roared, and her skin was sticky with humidity. Somebody was speaking on a radio, a woman. After a few moments, she managed to peel her eyelids apart. She took in her surroundings and realized she was laying on a metal floor, the metal floor of the dropship to be exact. The vibrations pounding through her skull were from frantic footsteps running back and forth on the floor around her. She groaned, rolling over.

"Clarke!" Raven's shrill yell made Chandra cringe. "Clarke she's awake!" Chandra assumed Raven was talking about her, so she sat up. Raven was bent over someone, who was on a table. They seemed to be wounded. Chandra's eyes widened as she recognized the long brown hair- Finn had been injured. Clarke jumped down the ladder, rushing over to where Chandra was.

"Chandra?" Clarke's hand appeared in front of Chandra's face and she took it, pulling herself up with Clarke's help.

"Careful," she warned. "You were in pretty bad shape when you got here." Chandra nodded, feeling the stings of where her body had been slashed open with knives, and the ache of the bruises covering her from head to toe. She glanced down at herself and noticed she'd been dressed; instead of her usual fur and leather, she was dressed in a dark grey long sleeved shirt, black cargo pants and thick boots. She looked like the rest of the sky people.

"Chandra," Clarke called, gaining the girl's attention again. "Bellamy and I need you upstairs…" She seemed hesitant.

"What is it?" Chandra raised her eyebrows and Clarke swallowed before continuing.

"You're probably not going to like what you'll see," Clarke explained, peaking Chandra's confusion. "But you need to understand, we need to save Finn. He poisoned him." Chandra furrowed her eyebrows, pushing past Clarke and climbing the ladder. Clarke called after her, but she ignored her.

She got off the ladder, turned, and her jaw dropped.

Chained by his hands and feet to the walls was a grounder. He was bloodied, his face bruised and battered beyond recognition. Chandra's horror grew as she recognized him. Lincoln.

Her eyes landed on Bellamy, who looked ashamed as he avoided Chandra's gaze.

"You're a monster," she spat at him. She could have sworn she saw him flinch, but it was so slight she must have imagined it.

"We don't have time for this," he growled back. "We need answers, and if he doesn't talk soon, Finn's going to die." Chandra didn't answer, instead glaring daggers at him.

"Chandra," Clarke spoke, coming up behind her. She tried to touch livid girl's shoulder, but Chandra yanked her arm away. "Chandra, we need you to talk to him. We don't think he speaks our language and we're hoping he speaks yours." Chandra swallowed, looking back at Lincoln. She knew for a fact that Lincoln spoke English, but decided to keep that fact to herself.

"Ask him what's on the knife," Clarke urged. Chandra did. Lincoln remained silent.

"Ask him which one of these vials is the anecdote," Bellamy suggested. Chandra did. Again, Lincoln remained silent.

They told her to repeat. She did. No answer.

Repeat.

Chandra did.

No answer.

The cycle went on, everyone growing increasingly agitated, until Raven barged upstairs.

"Clarke! Finn stopped breathing!"

"What?"

"He started again, but next time he might not. What's going on up here?"

Bellamy groaned. "Nothing, he won't talk."

"Oh yeah?" Raven's eyes glinted and Chandra suddenly had a bad feeling. "Well he hasn't met me yet."

"Raven, what are you doing?" Chandra's voice shook.

"Trying something new," she said vaguely before reaching down and grabbing two wires. Chandra jumped forward, only to be held back by Miller and another teen. She elbowed one in the face, and stepped on the other's foot, managing to break free, but they were joined by another sky person.

"Tie her up," Bellamy ordered, and the 3 kids held her down. Clarke protested, and Chandra screamed and kicked, putting up a great fight but she was too injured to fight off a handful of healthy teenagers.

"Raven, NO!" Chandra screamed as the desperate girl pressed the wires to Lincoln's chest, causing him to convulse. He began to foam at the mouth. Chandra continued screaming.

"Gag her!" Bellamy roared, unable to stand her desperate screams. Clarke protested again, but she was ignored. Miller gagged her roughly with a belt, and she knew her mouth would be ripped and bruised later.

"Stop!" Octavia screamed. She had the poisoned knife in her hand. "He'll let Finn die, but he sure as hell won't let me." She dragged the knife up her forearm, and Lincoln struggled against his restraints to try to get to her. Octavia fell to her knees, pointing to the different vials and asking if they were the anecdote. To everyone's surprise, Lincoln motioned to the very left one and nodded. Octavia grabbed that vial and handed it to Clarke, who rushed downstairs with it.

Octavia glared at Bellamy before descending the ladder. One by one the rest of the delinquents left too, leaving just Chandra and Bellamy. A pregnant silence was thick between them.

Bellamy walked towards her but Chandra skittered away, looking away from him. Eventually he got her against the wall, and she pressed herself against it to get as far away from him as she possibly could. He crouched down next to her and reached for her face. She flinched violently, and Bellamy's eyes burned with guilt. She refused to look at him, pulling her knees up to her chest. Bellamy clenched his jaw, refusing to show how guilty he was feeling. He ignored how she cringed away from him as he reached forward again and pulled the gag away from her mouth. She could feel the blood pooling at the sides of her mouth from where her lips ripped, and Bellamy's gaze fell to the wounds.

"Chandra," he said softly, unclasping the buckles that bound her hands and feet together. She immediately began rubbing her tender wrists. "Who we are and who we need to be to survive are two very different things." He stood up, offering her a hand. She refused it, using the wall to pull herself.

"I don't need your help," Chandra snarled. She glared at Bellamy, who didn't back down. Chandra walked past him towards Lincoln, knocking his shoulder roughly. She grabbed the bucket of water sitting in the corner and a rag, and started to clean Lincoln's chest. After a few moments of heated silence, Bellamy finally sighed.

"Fine," he grinded out through clenched teeth. Chandra heard him stomp down the ladder and she closed her eyes, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her eyes hardened as she examined Lincoln's wounds.

"I'm sorry," she croaked, clearing her throat. She felt guilty when she spoke her native tongue; she didn't deserve to speak it after what she had done, but she spoke it anyway, for Lincoln's sake. Her eyes burned, and her throat constricted. "I'm so sorry." She stared at his chest, refusing to look up at him out of shame.

"I-It's… not.. your fault…" Chandra's head snapped up. Sure enough, Lincoln was looking at her, struggling to lift his head. Her lower lip trembled and she pulled it into her mouth to hide it. She smiled sadly.

"Thank you," she whispered, going back to cleaning his wounds. She jumped when she heard someone climbing the ladder. Octavia paused as she realized Chandra was there.

"I'll take it from here." She grabbed the rag from Chandra's hands, who looked up at Lincoln. He nodded, and Chandra smiled softly at the younger girl before climbing down the ladder. She stepped off the dropship, thankful that the storm has finally stopped.

Bellamy stepped in front of her and Chandra came to an abrupt stop, craning her neck to look up at his tall form.

"We need to talk about how and why you're here." Chandra inwardly groaned. She did not want to have this conversation.

"Fine," she mumbled. "Where?" He nodded towards his tent and Chandra sighed, letting him lead her there.

"Chandra!" Jasper jogged up to her, and her mood instantly inflated. "What happened last night?"

Chandra glanced at Bellamy, who was giving her a pointed look.

"Hey Jasper," she greeted, ignoring his question. "I'm a little busy right now, but I promise I'll tell you everything after." Jasper's eyes flickered to Bellamy, and his face fell.

"Sure, whatever, take your time." Chandra felt a pang of guilt as she and Bellamy entered his tent, she knew what it looked like to Jasper but she didn't have time to explain.

"Sit," Bellamy ordered. Chandra made a face at his tone, but complied anyway. She sat on a log near the cloth wall of the tent, meant to be a makeshift bench. Clarke was already there, pacing in the middle of the tent. Bellamy stood a few feet in front of Chandra, arms crossed, staring at her expectantly.

"My people banished me," Chandra confessed, her eyes burning. She opened her mouth to elaborate but Clarke interrupted her.

"You were banished?" she asked, disbelief coating her voice. Chandra looked away, before fixing her gaze at the ground somewhere off to her side. She nodded, struggling to keep her tears from falling.

"I murdered an entire village," Chandra admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. Chandra refused to look at either of them; she already knew the looks on their faces. "The flares," she went on. She swallowed thickly, wiping away her stubborn tears. "One of them hit a village. My village. 200 people died." A strangled sob forced its way from her throat, and she covered her face with her hands. "_I_ lit that flare. The flares were _my _idea. And they didn't even work, I saw those bodies in the sky." She shook as a few more sobs shook her thin frame.

"Did they do… _that_ to you?" Bellamy referred to her wounds. Chandra nodded.

"When they walked me out, they attacked me. With rocks and knives." She sniffed. "It could have been worse. But my leader and I, we…" Chandra struggled to find words to describe her and Anya's relationship. "We had a _bond. _She was merciful."

"How is this merciful?" Clarke motioned to her battered body. "That's cruel."

"I deserve it," she cried, standing up. Bellamy pressed his lips into a thin line, and Clarke looked like she was about to disagree. "No, Clarke! It was all my fault! _Children_ died! Families! Innocent people! Because of me!"

"You had no idea that would happen-"

"_But it did!_" Clarke was stunned, and Chandra was breathing heavily. Bellamy was still silent. Chandra sighed, pushing the hair that'd fallen in front of her face behind her ear. She sat back down again, putting her head in her hands. She was suddenly exhausted. She felt a hand on her shoulder a few moments later, and she looked up to see Clarke sitting beside her.

"If your people won't have you," she said quietly, "Then we will. You're welcome here. Isn't that right, Bellamy?" Bellamy looked unsure, setting his jaw.

"Of course," he confirmed, though the extended pause before he did did nothing to reassure Chandra. "You're one of us now." Chandra nodded, accepting it. The tent fell into silence again, until Chandra cleared her throat.

"So, does this mean I get a tent now?"

Chandra ended up sharing with Octavia. She made her own tiny bed in the farthest corner. She lay there alone; Octavia was somewhere else, probably still with Lincoln. Chandra was fast asleep in moments.

**AN: One of my shorter chapters, sorry about that. the next one is around 5000 words though so look forward to that. But this chapter was still important because it's the start of bellamy and chandra's relationship, and the two leaders of the camp are beginning to trust chandra and accept her.**

**Don't forget to leave reviews telling me what you think, also please leave suggestions for pairings and where the plot should go because this story is still pretty fresh so there's a lot of directions this story could go in. xx**


	5. V

**AN: this chapter is pretty short and kind of a filler, but you get to learn a bit about Chandra's past and also theres some Chandramy moments for yall**

"Now that we know that the Earth is habitable," Jaha said to his fellow council members. "I must bring up the topic of our former Chancellor, Thindrel." The rest of the council listened intently, all knowing exactly what Jaha was talking about.

"Do you think he's alive?" It was Abby Griffin who spoke.

"Of course not," Marcus Kane said, as if it were obvious. "There are grounders down there, there's no way a single man could survive with them."

"Maybe he made peace with them, and is still living with them?" Abby held on to her hope. "He could have an entire family down there, for all we know. Thelonious, what do you think?" The Chancellor pressed his fingertips together, deep in thought.

"It's possible," he admitted finally. "But we shouldn't hold on to such a small shred of hope."

Chandra awoke early despite having a restless night, rising with the sun like she was used to. Her night was plagued with nightmares, jolting awake every couple of hours. Octavia had come in sometime during the night, and was still fast asleep. Chandra stood up and stretched, flipping the hair away from her face. Sometime during the course of the last two days, the leather strip holding her hair up had fallen off and gotten lost. Her hair fell around her face a curtain of dark waves, constantly falling into her eyes. She huffed in annoyance, determined to find something to tie it up as soon as she could.

She exited the tent, greeted by a silent camp. Everyone was still asleep, but she could see the sun peeking from the horizon, meaning people would be awake soon. The fire had gone out during the night so she relit it, relishing in the warmth. Without her fur clothing, she could feel the coldness of the dawn seeping into her bones. Her new clothes were comfortable, though very different from what she was used to wearing. She shrugged; she would get used to it eventually. She sat down on a log in front of the flames and rested her forearms on her knees. She clasped her hands together, staring into the dancing heat. Her thoughts wandered, and she found herself thinking back to her village. Those innocent people, they all burned. Were their deaths painful? Did they feel the heat of the flares before they died? Or did they die quickly in the explosions? Chandra's eyes hardened. She didn't deserve to be alive, she was a mass murderer. The flames left impressions into her eyes that she saw even when she closed them. Before she realized what she was doing, she was standing, inching closer and closer to the flames. She could feel them licking the front of her body. Just a little closer and they'd catch on-

"What are you doing?" Chandra stumbled back as someone grabbed her by the waist, pulling her away from the flames. Bellamy held her firmly, turning around so he was between her and the flames.

Chandra's eyes widened as she looked between him and the fire, realizing what she had been about to do. "I-"

"We've all done stupid things we regret," he berated fiercely, keeping his voice low to not wake the others. "But killing yourself is _not_ the way to get over it. Running away from your problems won't help anyone." He shook her, making her eyes meet his. "Don't even _think_ about doing that. Ever again." Chandra looked away, uncomfortable under his intense gaze. He finally let her go, and she stumbled back, sitting back down on the log. Bellamy watched her for a moment before walking away, probably to go work on something. Clarke emerged from a tent a few moments later, walking towards her while looking off to where Bellamy had walked away.

"Why are you up so early?" Clarke heaved a sigh.

"I didn't sleep," she answered. "I was talking to the Ark all night." Chandra nodded. Clarke sat beside her. "They told me there's a shelter near here, and we could get supplies from there. I need you to come with me." People started to emerge from their tents, ignoring Chandra and Clarke.

"Why do you need me to come with you?" Clarke looked away.

"Mostly because I don't know you that well, and I don't wanna be around anyone I like today." Chandra chuckled softly. "Also because you know the land better than I do." Chandra nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'll go with you. When do we leave?"

"In about half an hour, once the sun is up." By this time nearly everyone was awake, and the camp was bustling with life. Clarke stood up and left, leaving Chandra sitting alone. She heaved herself up, letting out a sigh. She decided to go find Jasper, he always seemed to lighten her mood.

Everyone in the camp was making rations, and Chandra didn't care enough to see what of. They seemed to know what they were doing, so she kept walking. She found Jasper sitting on a log, eating from a small pouch.

"Chandra!" He exclaimed when he spotted her. He moved over, making room for her. She flopped down next to him. He swallowed whatever he was eating quickly. "Bellamy told me about what happened to you back at your village." Chandra's smile fell, and she looked away from him. He kept talking though, not sensing her discomfort. "Well, technically, Bellamy told Octavia, who told me, and I told Monty, who told Harper, who told Miller. And Clarke told Raven, who told Finn, but since Finn is bedridden he couldn't really tell anyone else…"

"Anyway," he said, changing the subject when Chandra didn't respond. "You _need_ to try these nuts, they're so good." Chandra didn't have a chance to respond before he shoved a handful into her mouth, forcing her to chew and swallow them. She vaguely recognized the taste, and was about to examine the nuts to see what they were, but Clarke walked up to her. Bellamy stood behind her.

"We're leaving now." Chandra handed the nuts back to Jasper, and stood. She nodded at him, and he smiled back, waving his hand.

Before they exited the camp, Bellamy stopped by the bin full of rations and began filling his pack with them.

"That's a lot of rations," Clarke commented. "I hope you know this is just a day trip?" Bellamy's expression didn't change.

"A lot can happen in a day." At that moment Octavia steps out of the dropship. Bellamy looked at her, and Chandra notices how easily they seem to be able to communicate just through their eyes. Octavia seemed to get the message Bellamy was sending her, because she turned and stomped back into the dropship. Clarke said nothing about the exchange, instead turning and leaving the camp. Bellamy and Chandra followed her. They walked in silence for a while, Clarke and Bellamy walking a few feet in front of Chandra the entire time.

"You know," Clarke said to Bellamy. "The first dropship is gonna come down soon. Pretty sure you can't avoid Jaha forever." Chandra recognized the name Jaha; he was the chancellor that Bellamy had attempted to kill.

"I can try." Bellamy sped up, clearly done with the conversation. Clarke gave Chandra a helpless look and Chandra shrugged.

"The depot is supposed to be around here somewhere," Bellamy stated, changing the topic. There's got to be a door."

Clarke refused to let the conversation go. "Maybe he'll be lenient." Bellamy spun on her, anger radiating off of him.

"Look," he growled. "I shot the man, Clarke. He's not just gonna forgive and forget." He sighed. "Let's just split up, cover more ground. Stay within shouting distance." Clarke nodded, finally letting the topic fade away. The three all went in different directions, searching for the door to the depot.

"Bellamy, Clarke" Chandra called. "Over here, I found the door." She reached down the tried to open it, hearing the two come up behind her. "I think it might be rusted shut.  
>"Here, let me. Watch your foot." Bellamy grabbed her arm, moving her away from the door. He hit the door with his axe. "Give me a hand." Chandra let Clarke help Bellamy pull open the door, and let the two go in first. She scrunched her nose up at the stench of rotting flesh that attacked her senses upon entering the dark depot.<p>

"Really think this place hasn't been touched since the war?" Bellamy looked at Clarke.

"A girl can dream." The three walked past a skeleton, and a shiver ran down Chandra's spine.

"So much for living down here," Clarke said to herself. "This place is disgusting." Chandra agreed silently. They split up, looking for anything useful.

"Damn it," Bellamy cursed. "Anything down here is ruined."

"They must have distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off," Clarke hypothesized. Chandra opened a crate, finding something that could be useful.

"Hey," she called. "I found blankets."

"Excited about some blankets?" Chandra scowled.

"Don't take your frustration out on me," she growled. "And it's something."

"How about a canteen?" He spun around, bitterness dripping from his words. "Or a med kit? Or a decent fucking tent?" He screamed in anger, kicking down a barrel. All three of them perked up at the noise of water hitting the ground, and something else. Something metallic. Bellamy crouched down, and Chandra heard him gasp in glee.

"Guns," he grinned, holding up a couple of the weapons. "This changes everything. No more running from spears, we can finally fight back!" Chandra frowned; it was her people that the guns would be used against. Bellamy stood, holding out a gun for Chandra to take. Chandra froze, her hands going clammy. She remembered the warning the mountain men had given the grounders about guns. If a grounder touches a gun, the mountain men will wipe out their entire village. Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and Chandra could feel Clarke doing the same.

Her village was already dead. Plus, how would the mountain men know she had touched the gun? She'd put it back as soon as she could. She bit her lip, snatching the gun from Bellamy's hands.

"Look," Clarke spoke up, peeling her eyes from Chandra to look at Bellamy, who was still looking at her peculiarly. "I'm not gonna fight you on bringing guns back to camp. I know we need them. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease," he ignored her. "We're not sitting ducks anymore." He grabbed a blanket, using a rock to draw a big X on it. He hung it up on the door, and walked back to Chandra. "You've never even seen a gun before, right?" Chandra scoffed at his ignorance.

"Of course I have, we just don't use them."

"You'll need to learn how to," Bellamy advised. Chandra nodded, putting the gun on her shoulder shakily. She hoped Bellamy couldn't tell that she had no idea what she was doing.

"Like this?" She looked up at Bellamy through her lashes, eyes filled with wonder. Bellamy met her eyes and something unrecognizable flashed through his own.

He coughed. "Uh, yeah, but, just a little higher. And change your stance, You can aim better this way." He put one hand on her waist and one hand on her shoulder, standing directly behind her.

Every nerve on Chandra's body was on high alert, and she held back a shiver as she felt his breath on her neck. "U-Uh yeah, like that." He stuttered, stepping away from her. Chandra could have sworn he was blushing. "Now watch and learn, both of you." Chandra was reminded of Clarke's presence, who was watching them with eyebrows raised and a small smile on her face. Chandra's cheeks burned and she turned her eyes to Bellamy, watching him as he aimed. She admired the focused look on his face; he had quite a nice profile. Chandra was snapped back to reality when Bellamy pulled the trigger, and nothing happened.

"Still watching," Clarke sassed. Bellamy gave her an unamused look.

"My bullets are duds. Chandra, try yours." Chandra nodded, putting the gun back to her shoulder, aiming it towards the blanket. She pulled the trigger, and the gun rocked back against her shoulder roughly. The bullet didn't hit the center, but it did hit a foot away towards the right. She gasped.

"That was…" She struggled to find the words.

"Amazing!" Clarke finished. Chandra shook her head.

"I'd rather stick to my daggers," she admitted. Bellamy scoffed.

"Your choice." He turned to Clarke. "You, then, need to practice."

"We shouldn't waste the ammunition," she pointed out. "We need to focus on where we're going to keep the guns, who has access to them. You left Miller in charge, you must trust him."

"You should keep him close," Bellamy advised. Clarke looked confused for a moment, but Chandra put two and two together.

"'Keep him close?'" Clarke repeated. "What does that even mean?"

"Wait, a minute," Chandra realized. "You've been acting weird all day. And all those rations… You're gonna run away, aren't you?" Bellamy looked down at the floor, whether it was out of guilt or embarrassment for being caught Chandra couldn't tell. She was suddenly consumed with rage.

She shoved Bellamy, knocking him back a few steps. "You were the one telling me all that crap about how 'running away from your problems doesn't help anyone! You're a hypocrite." Bellamy clenched his jaw and looked back up at her.

"The Ark will come down soon," Bellamy defended. "I don't have a choice." Chandra shook her head in disbelief.

"So you're just gonna leave Octavia?" Clarke had a point there. Bellamy looked at her, then looked away.

"Octavia hates me, she'll be fine." Clarke disagreed.

"You don't know-"

"I shot the chancellor, Clarke," Bellamy half yelled. "They're gonna kill me. Best case scenario, they lock me up with the grounder. And I'm not giving Jaha the satisfaction of that." Clarke and Chandra were both silenced. "Keep practicing, I need some air." With that hurried up the stairs, leaving the two girls in thick silence.

Chandra cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go find another room to practice." She grabbed a blanket to use as a target, grabbed her gun, and began wandering down the corridors. The depot was even more dingy and humid in the other rooms, and Chandra soon felt like she was being suffocated.

No, she was genuinely having difficulty breathing. Her vision was going blurry too. If she let her eyes stay in one place for too long, she'd zone out. Her eyes moved frantically, trying to stay alert. She looked down at her gun, which had transformed into a snake. She let out a squeak, dropping it as quickly as she could and skittering towards a wall. She stared down at the floor where the 'snake' had fallen, only to see that it was indeed just a gun. In a rational part of her mind, she knew that the gun had never been a snake, and it couldn't have possibly been a snake, but all rational thought left her mind. She had trouble focusing on one thought. A hand touched her arm and she screamed, whipping around.

"Anya?" Chandra muttered. "What are you doing here?" Anya stood in front of her. She was wearing her full war makeup and armor, with a sword in her right hand. Anya stepped closer to her, a smile growing on her lips.

"Banishing you was a mistake," she admitted. Chandra's eyes lit up with surprise. Was Anya accepting her back into her village? Anya's eyes turned hateful, her lips twisting into a scowl.

"I should have just killed you!" She roared as she plunged the sword straight into Chandra's stomach. Pain exploded through her entire body, pulsing through her veins. Her mind went blank, her eyes wide. She pressed her hands to her stomach as she fell to her knees, but when she pulled them away, there was no blood. She looked down, and there wasn't a wound. Neither was there any pain, though Chandra could have sworn she had felt the intense burn of the sword slicing through her flesh. She was panting, sweat dripping down her forehead as she looked around. Anya was gone. Chandra realized that she was never here, and she had been hallucinating.

The nuts. The ones Jasper had fed her. She should have known they were Jobi nuts. They caused hallucinations and disorientedness. She'd had the displeasure of accidentally consuming them once before, and the experience had been no more pleasurable than this one. She grabbed her gun and stumbled through the corridors, looking for Clarke. She found her, knocked out on the ground, her head bleeding slightly. Whoever had done that to her was still out there, and Bellamy could be in danger. Chandra paused momentarily to make sure Clarke would be okay, before clambering up the stairs and out into the open. Night had fallen by now, and everything had an eerie grey glow from the moon above. Chandra spotted Bellamy from her spot. She was behind some bushes, so he couldn't see her. Bellamy was on the floor, looking around as if there were people there, but he was alone.

"Kill me," he pleaded suddenly. Chandra's heart wrenched at how broken his voice sounded.

"Please kill me," he said, his voice gritty. "I deserve it. Please!" Chandra longed to pull him into a hug; he looked so broken. She stood up, but flopped back down into her hiding spot when someone emerged from the trees. It was one of the sky people, Dax. He had a gun, one from the bunker. He must have taken one when he attacked Clarke. Bellamy didn't notice him. Instead he let out one last heart breaking plea.

"Please. I can't fight anymore." It was at the moment that Dax held up the gun to Bellamy's head.

"Nothing personal," he sneered, putting his finger on the trigger. Chandra jumped from her hiding spot, aiming her gun.

"Put it down, Dax." Her voice was sharp, and her threat was obvious. He looked surprised to see her.

"Where did you come from?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Fine," he growled. "Walk away now, and I won't kill you."

"Put it down," Chandra warned for the last time.

"Have it your way, then." Dax aimed the gun at Chandra, and Chandra shot her gun. It clicked, and she gasped in frustration. Dax shot at Chandra, and a bullet grazed her shoulder. Before Dax could shoot at her again, Bellamy kicked the gun from Dax's hands. Dax lunged for the gun, and Chandra took the chance to hide behind a tree and reload her gun. She heard the thuds of fists hitting flesh, and peeked around the tree to see what was happening. Dax was punching Bellamy repeatedly, and Chandra pressed her back against the tree again and started getting ready to shoot again. Right as she aimed her gun, Bellamy grabbed a stray bullet from the ground and stabbed it into Dax's neck. He fell off of Bellamy, choking on his blood for a few seconds before he finally died. It was a bloody sight, and both Bellamy and Chandra felt bile rise in their throats as they stared in horror. Chandra was the first to snap out of her reverie, wlaking over to Bellamy.

"It's okay," She reassured him, though she was also talking to herself. "You're okay." She guided him over to the tree, and fell down beside him.

"No, it's not okay," he groaned. "My mother, if she knew what I've done, who I am…" He trailed off, shaking his head. Chandra lowered her head to meet his gaze. "I'm a monster." She shook her head.

"You're _not _a monster, Bellamy," she reassured.

"How can you say that?" His voice was hoarse, cracking with emotion. "I tortured one of your people."

"Who we are and who we have to be to survive are two very different things," she repeated his words back to him. Bellamy rolled his eyes, scowling to himself. Chandra grabbed his face tenderly, making him look at her. "Listen, you might be an ass most of the time, but I need you." Bellamy finally met her eyes. Chandra was slightly taken aback from the intensity of his gaze.

"We all need you." Clarke's voice made the two of them look over at the door to the depot. Chandra wondered how long she had been standing there. "None of us would have survived this place had it not been for you. You want forgiveness? Fine. You're forgiven." She walked over to him, crouching down in front of him. "But you can't run. You have to come back. You have to face it."

"Like you faced your mom?" Clarke's eyes hardened.

"You're right. I don't want to face my mom. I don't want to face any of it," she admitted. "All I think about every day is how we're gonna keep everyone alive, but we don't have a choice."

Bellamy sniffled, looking between the two girls in front of him. "Jaha will kill me when he comes down."

"We'll figure something out," Chandra finalized. Bellamy smiled softly.

"Can we figure it out later?" At that moment, Bellamy reminded Chandra of a small child. He was scared, and he was exhausted. She smiled back at him, patting his knee reassuringly.

"Whenever you're ready."

When they arrived back at camp, Miller ran up to Bellamy.

"He's gone," he said frantically. "The grounder's gone. What if he brings other grounders back? He'll kill us all." By then a small crowd had formed.

"Or worse," someone from the crowd spoke up. A murmur of alarm rippled through the crowd. Bellamy and Chandra shared a smug look, dropping the bags of guns they had thrown over their shoulders.

"Let them come," he declared. Chandra admired how strong his voice was as he addressed the crowd. The teens automatically listened to him. His entire demeanor screamed '_leader_'. And it was amazing. "We've been afraid of them for far too long, and why? Because of their knives and spears. I don't know about you," he paused to pull out a couple guns from the bags and hold them up. "But I'm tired of being afraid." The crowd cheered. Chandra spoke up, a little put off by how excited they were for the dangerous weapons.

"There are weapons, okay, not toys" she cautioned, her voice orotund. It rang throughout the camp, and surprisingly, everyone listened. She felt Bellamy's gaze on her face and she met his eyes momentarily. He almost seemed proud of her. "And we have to be prepared to give them up to the authorities when the Ark comes down. But until then, they're gonna help keep us safe. And there are plenty more where these came from." She walked forward so she was standing in the direct middle of the crowd.

"Tomorrow," she continued, her voice dripping with authority, "we start training. And if we get attacked, we'll be able to protect ourselves." The crowd roared, and Chandra turned back to look at Bellamy, almost for reassurance. He was grinning at her. Chandra recognized the look on his face. Admiration.

The crowd dispersed, and with one last smile sent to Bellamy, Chandra walked away.

"Chandra!" Jasper and Monty came to a stop in front of her. Jasper pulled her into a hug, and she stiffened. She felt Jasper nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck and sighed. She wrapped her arms around him, taking in his warmth. She melted into the hug, not used to the feeling of being in someone's arms. He eventually let her go, and Chandra immediately missed his warmth. Chandra looked at Monty, who was rubbing his temples.

"Rough day?" She was referring to the nuts, and Monty scoffed.

"I think I ate a pinecone," he groaned. "Because it _told_ me to." The three of them burst out in laughter. Chandra threw her head back, grabbing her stomach. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed this hard. It was a fantastic feeling; she felt comfortable here.

"That was a nice little speech you made back there," Jasper complimented once they had regained their composure. Chandra blushed.

"Yeah," Monty agreed. "I didn't think people would even listen."

"Me neither," Jasper voiced. "But you just look and act like you belong here. Like you're one of us." Chandra smiled, warmth filling her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clarke approaching.

"Chandra, can you come with me please?" Chandra was confused, but followed Clarke anyway. She waved at Monty and Jasper, who smiled and waved back. She led her to a tent, and inside, Bellamy was sitting in front of a screen. Their eyes met, and Chandra caught nervousness floating around in his dark brown irises. Clarke motioned for Chandra to sit down near the wall of the tent, and Chandra did. She watched as Clarke turned on a small screen, and a dark skinned man appeared.

"Mr. Blake," he addressed. "I've wanted to talk to you for some time now." Chandra was confused as to who this man was. He seemed important, though.

"Before you do," Clarke interrupted, "I'd like to say something." The man nodded, urging her on. "When you sent us down here, you sent us to die, but miraculously, most of us are still alive. In large part, because of him." She looked at Bellamy, who looked right back at her. "Because of Bellamy." She looked back at the screen. "He's one of us, and he deserves to be pardoned of his crimes just like the rest of us." Chandra gasped as she realized who the man was- Jaha, the Chancellor that Bellamy had shot.

"Clarke, I appreciate your point of view, but it's not that simple." Bellamy deflated, but Clarke spoke up again.

"It is if you want to know who on The Ark wants you dead." Jaha was silent for a while.

"Bellamy Blake," he addressed, and Bellamy's eyes widened in anticipation. "You're pardoned for your crimes." Bellamy sighed in relief, a small smile gracing his lips. "Now tell me who gave you the gun."

"Shumway," Bellamy answered, and Jaha scoffed in disbelief.

"Chancellor Jaha," Clarke got his attention. "Before you go, I'd like you to introduce you to someone." Jaha raised his eyebrows, and Clarke motioned for Chandra to come over. She did, sitting between Clarke and Bellamy. Bellamy handed her a headset, and she put it on.

"This is Chandra. She's a grounder." Jaha's eyes widened. "Or, she was. She's one of us now. She left her people, to help us. And she's done so much for us. She's saved our lives on multiple occasions. I want you to make her an official citizen of the sky people." Jaha bit his lip, contemplating it.

"Okay," he agreed. "Chandra…"

"Chandramukhi," she gave him her full name. "Chandramukhi Thindrel."

"Thindrel?" Jaha asked in disbelief. "As in Ezekiel Thindrel?" Chandra's chest swelled with pride.

"Yes, that's my father," she announced.

"You're Chancellor Thindrel's daughter?" Bellamy could barely believe it. Chandra nodded.

"Is he," Jaha started, unsure. "Is he alive?" Chandra looked down at her lap, shaking her head.

"No," she whispered. She cleared her throat. "No, he died 18 years ago." Jaha nodded solemnly.

"Well, Ms. Thindrel," he declared. "Welcome to the Sky People." Chandra smiled at the two people next to her, who smiled back.

Maybe, just maybe, she had finally found her home.


	6. VI

"So," Jasper began as he crouched down beside Monty to help him make his 'moonshine'. "Rumor has it your dad's Councillor Thindrel?" Chandra cringed, trying her best to smile. She had hoped that fact would stay quiet.

"Yup," She admitted. "What do you know about him?" Jasper sucked in a breath, blowing out his cheeks.

"Not good things," he laughed nervously. He hurried to reword himself when he saw the deflated look on Chandra's face. "I mean, he was apparently a nice guy, maybe a little crazy." Chandra sat on the ground next to the two of them, cross legged.

"How so?" Jasper didn't answer for a moment, for he was smiling softly at the childlike curiosity Chandra displayed, so Monty jumped in.

"He was convinced the Earth was habitable," he explained. "Obviously, he was right, but no one believed him. So one day…"

"He took matters into his own hands, and took a dropship down to Earth." Chandra finished, knowing how the story went. "My mother used to tell me his story all the time." She smiled sadly, remembering her mother.

"Yeah," Jasper said, breaking her from her thoughts. "Everyone assumed he was dead, and we moved on. But we were wrong." He looked up at her with the last four words, and Chandra smiled at him.

"Done!" Monty jumped up, grabbing the alcoholic drink. It sloshed around in the containers as they began heading back to camp. At the gates, Monty paused to take a large gulp from one of them. Jasper and Chandra met eyes; Jasper was ecstatic while Chandra looked a bit worried. Jasper went next, filling as much as he could into his mouth before pulling it away from his lips and swallowing. When he held it out to Chandra, she looked uncertain.

"This isn't a good idea…" Jasper rolled his eyes, pushing the lip of the container to her mouth. Chandra turned away, pressing her lips together. "I really don't want to!"

"C'mon, Chandra," Jasper coaxed, tipping the liquid into her mouth despite her protests. "Have some fun!" It burned her throat and she was forced to swallow. It dripped down her chin, but most of it went down her throat.

"How was it?" Monty questioned. Chandra coughed, her face pinched in disgust.

"Absolutely repulsive," she responded bluntly. She already felt the effects of the drink making her thoughts fuzzy. "Give me more." Jasper and Monty laughed, handing her the drink and she took another hearty mouthful, resisting the urge to cough. She followed behind the two as they burst into the camp, whooping and yelling.

"Monty strikes again!" Jasper's smile was wide as he patted his friend on the back. "Call this batch Unity Juice! Who's thirsty?" The camp cheered, and Jasper started passing the drinks around. Chandra joined the small crowd as they stood in front of the small screen. Chancellor Jaha was on it, giving his yearly Unity Day Speech.

"To our sons and daughters on Earth listening to this message," he spoke, a small smile gracing his lips, "we will see you soon. The first Exodus ship will be launched in under sixty hours, carrying you the reinforcements that you need, so stay strong. Help is on the way. Without further ado, I present to you, the story of us." Chandra knew the story. Her mother had learned quite a bit about the Ark and its history from Chandra's father, and had told Chandra everything she knew. She watched the young children walk around in a circle with flags, and couldn't help but smile. Suddenly, the video feed shut off, and Chandra furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The crowd around her also seemed confused, but it was soon forgotten as they all headed in different directions. Chandra set off to find Clarke or Bellamy.

By now the camp was in the midst of a full on party. Drunk teenagers stumbled about, and one bumped into her.

"Maybe I should take that," Chandra said softly, taking the drink from the girl's hands. The girl was so disoriented that she didn't even care, instead she giggled and stumbled off. Chandra looked down at the almost full cup in her hands. She glanced around her to make sure no one was watching, before bringing it to her lips and gulping down the entire thing. She pulled the now empty cup from her mouth, almost dropping it when a voice spoke up.

"Havin' fun?" Bellamy emerged from behind a tree. Chandra giggled, already feeling the dizziness grow.

"I guess," she admitted, watching as Bellamy leaned against the tree, crossing his arms over his chest. Then she remembered why she had been looking for Bellamy in the first place. "The comms shut down, by the way. During the pageant." Bellamy rolled his eyes.

"Best Unity Day ever," he said sourly. Chandra giggled again, and she didn't have the wits to be embarrassed over her behavior.

"Do you really think this is the best time to be having a party? I mean, the grounder is out there." Chandra wasn't afraid of 'the grounder', who she knew well to be Lincoln. But she knew most the the people at the camp were, and found it odd how they'd relaxed so quickly and easily.

"Grounders," Bellamy corrected, looking out into the crowd. The light from the torches and fires lighting the camp danced on his face, casting shadows across it. "By now, he's made it home. He's probably putting together a lynch mob." Chandra knew Lincoln, and she doubted that was the case. "Why don't you get a drink? I don't think you're drunk enough yet." Chandra laughed, and a ghost of a smile graced Bellamy's lips.

"It'll take a lot more than just one drink to get me drunk enough," she retorted with a grin. Bellamy chuckled. "But you know who does need a drink?" Bellamy raised his eyebrows, urging her to go on. "Clarke." Bellamy nodded, silently agreeing.

"I'm gonna go find her," she said, turning away from him. She paused, looking over her shoulder. "Bellamy?" He looked up, meeting her eyes.

"So do you."

"I'll have my fun when the grounders come." Chandra felt a shiver go down her spine at the bloodthirsty words. 'Fun' wasn't exactly what came to mind when she thought of the people she'd lived with her entire life being killed. Despite this, she plastered a smile on her face, nodding.

"Alright. Suit yourself." With that she walked away in search of her pretty blonde friend.

Chandra found Clarke sitting a ways away from the party, watching it with hesitant eyes. Chandra had grabbed two drinks on the way there, and was sipping one of them lightly.

"Hey Clarke," Chandra greeted, taking a seat next to her. Clarke smiled at her before turning back towards the camp. "Why aren't you out there having fun?" She gazed at Clarke expectantly over the rip of her cup.

"Not really in the mood to party," she answered. When she turned to look back to Chandra, a cup full of Unity Juice was shoved in her face.

"Here," Chandra offered. "Take it." When Clarke began to refuse, Chandra insisted. "Relax. Drink this. You look like you could use it." Clarke caved, taking the cup. She didn't drink it yet, though.

"Clarke," Chandra sighed. "The Exodus ship carrying your mom will be here in 2 days. After that, the party's over. Have some fun while you can." Clarke bit her lip, contemplating it. After a few seconds, a small smile flitted across her lips.

"You're right," she admitted. "Thank you." She then stood up, tipping her head back and downing the entirety of the drink in a couple hearty gulps. Chandra laughed, watching as Clarke walked off. She finished the rest of her drink and stood up, intending to get more, but Finn stepped in her way.

"I just saw Octavia leave camp," he said. "And I'm going to follow her." Chandra raised her eyebrows, suddenly a lot more sober than she had been a minute ago.

"Shouldn't you tell Bellamy instead?" She questioned. Finn shook his head.

"I think she's meeting with the grounder," he explained, "and I have a plan to make peace. If Bellamy comes, he'll just wanna fight." Chandra had to agree with the last part.

"Why are you so sure this plan will work?"

"I'm not, but I'd rather die making peace than live fighting a war." Chandra met his brown eyes, which were fierce with determination. She found herself with a newfound respect for the Spacewalker, and she smiled.

"Count me in."

Finn decided that she would be at Lincoln's cave-home, and since Chandra had never been there, she let Finn lead the way.

"Alright," Finn said, coming to a stop. "This is it." He started forward, but Chandra grabbed his arm.

"What if they're…" she trailed off, uncomfortable. "...busy?" Finn looked at her in confusion before his eyes widened in realization. They looked at each other, both of their mouths in tiny 'o' shapes, before bursting out in laughter. Chandra shushed him, struggling to keep quiet. Her cheeks hurt from trying to stay silent, and she could tell Finn's did too. They composed themselves after a few moments.

"Let's go in," Finn suggested and Chandra nodded, following him.

Inside, Lincoln and Octavia were kissing. Chandra smiled at how cute they were, but it only took a split second for Lincoln to notice them and he aimed his knife at them when he did. Chandra and Finn put up their hands in surrender.

"Lincoln, no!" Octavia jumped in front of Lincoln. "They're my friends!" Lincoln didn't lower his weapon.

"I think you lost this," Finn said, pulling out Lincoln's knife. Lincoln looked down at it, and finally put his weapon back in its sheath.

"What are you guys even doing here?" Octavia asked after a heated moment of silence.

"I could ask the same thing," Finn retorted. Octavia turned red. "I could also ask how long you've known he speaks English, but I won't." He turned to Lincoln, and pointed to his horn. "You blew this when your people were hunting us. You saved our lives. I have to believe there's more like you." Chandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course there were more like Lincoln. _Me, for example_, she thought. _And many more. It's not like all of us are savages._ Lincoln looked uncertain.

"I stabbed you." Finn shrugged.

"And we tortured you." Lincoln looked away, contemplating the weight of Finn's arguments. "Listen, if the two of us can get along, then maybe there's hope. Learn from history instead of repeating it, right?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "How's that gonna happen?"

"For starters, no more killing."

"Sounds simple enough," Chandra commented. Lincoln shook his head hopelessly.

"I don't have the power to call a truce." Chandra lowered her eyes, knowing who did.

"Then bring to me someone who does," Finn proposed. "Look, the rest of our people are coming down here. The first ship lands in two days. And because of the attacks, they're sending mostly soldiers, people who enforce our laws." Lincoln's expression hardened as he realized what that meant. "The Ark is about survival at any cost, and they'll kill people who fall out of line. When those people get down here, if they feel threatened, they will start a war and I don't want that."

"Neither do you," Chandra interjected, making sure Lincoln would get the message.

"Right," Finn agreed. "And I think that's why you blew that horn. Once the soldiers get here, it will be too late, and we'll have no power to stop them. But if they see we're living together in peace, then maybe we have a chance to stay that way." Lincoln held Finn's gaze for a moment, analyzing his words before he finally nodded.

"Alright," he agreed. "You bring your leader…" Lincoln's eyes locked with Chandra's. "And I'll bring mine." Chandra clenched her jaw, looking away from Lincoln.

"Bellamy would never go for this," Octavia pointed out.

"We're not gonna bring Bellamy," Chandra corrected. "We're bringing Clarke. She's our leader."

Finn and Chandra entered the camp in silence. The party was still going strong.

"I'll go find Clarke, you wait here," Finn ordered. Chandra was too lost in her thoughts to snap at him about how she didn't take orders for him, so she complied.

If the treaty was to happen, would she be seen as a traitor still? There was a sliver of hope for her. Maybe her people would take her back. She might even be pardoned for her treason. If the grounders and the sky people lived together, she wouldn't have to choose between them anymore. She wouldn't have to give up either halves of her heritage. Finn's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Clarke needed to get her pack," Finn stated, coming to a stop beside her. "She'll be here in a bit." Chandra nodded absentmindedly, and Finn frowned. "Is something wrong? You've been quiet the whole trip back." Chandra shook her head, but Finn was still giving her that concerned look.

"It's just that…" She bit her lip. "Do you think…"

"What?" Finn urged. Chandra shook her head again.

"Nothing. Clarke's here." Indeed, Clarke was walking towards them, a bag slung over her shoulder.

Chandra followed the two at a short distance.

"You ever think about the fact that this might be a trap?" Clarke's voice was loud, making sure the two of them definitely heard her rhetorical question.

"You should have more faith," Chandra spat, her voice dripping with venom. Finn glanced at her warningly.

"Right," he said, his voice a lot sweeter. " And since it's Unity Day, I decided to have hope instead." Finn paused, wincing as he put a hand to his wound.

"Let me look at that," Clarke said, pulling up his shirt. The stab wound was bleeding again, probably having been opened during all the walking Finn had been doing. Clarke sighed, pulling his shirt back down. "Seriously, Finn, you're putting a lot of faith in a guy who stuck a knife in you." Finn was quick to retort.

"And you're sounding more and more like Bellamy."

"I'm just trying to keep us alive." Finn turned away from her, continuing the trek.

"So am I."

When they arrived at the meeting place, the bridge, Clarke turned to Finn once she spotted Lincoln.

"So that's how you set this up. You helped him escape, didn't you?" Finn looked exasperated.

"I trust him, Clarke." Clarke's lip curled up in disgust.

"There's a lot of that going around." Octavia, who had been waiting at the bridge, ran up and hugged Lincoln. Chandra turned from them towards Clarke.

"You know, Clarke," she said bitterly. "You're showing a lot of mistrust towards the grounders when two days ago you were telling me I was 'one of you guys'." Clarke shook her head.

"It's not the same thing-"Chandra interrupted her.

"Why not?" Clarke was about to say something, until she saw something over Chandra's shoulder.

"Wait," she gasped. "Look! Oh, my God, horses!" Her grin faded when she noticed that the grounders had weapons. She turned an accusatory glare at Lincoln. "We said no weapons."

Lincoln shook his head. "I was told there wouldn't be any."

"It's too late now," Finn interrupted. Chandra couldn't care less about their dilemma, instead her eyes were focused on the woman in the front of the group of grounders. Her black horse was as grand as her presence. Anya hadn't noticed Chandra yet, probably not recognizing her in her new clothes and her hair down.

Anya climbed off her horse, walking towards the middle of the bridge. Behind her was her second in command, Lexa.

Finn tried to go with Clarke, but Clarke held him back.

"Chandra," Clarke called. "Come with me."

"But I'm not your second in command-"

"Yes you are." All previous dislike towards Clarke vanished, and Chandra swelled with pride. She held her head high as she followed Clarke, coming closer and closer to Anya.

"Chandra," Anya whispered once they had gotten close enough. Anya's eyes were wide, nd her hand itched at her side to reach towards Chandra.

"Anya," Chandra greeted, her voice cold, though her eyes were burning. She hadn't seen Anya since she had been banished, and she ached to pull her into her arms. Clarke glanced between them, noticing the tension. However, Anya regained her composure, hardening her eyes.

"Your name is Clarke?" Anya asked. Clarke nodded.

"Yes."

"I'm Anya." She gestured to the girl behind her. "This is Lexa."

"This is Chandra," Clarke introduced unnecessarily. Anya nodded.

"I think we got off to a rough start," Clarke continued, "but we want to find a way to live together in peace."

"I understand," Anya replied. "But you started a war that you don't know how to end."

"What?" Clarke asked in confusion. "No, we didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason."

"No reason?" Anya scoffed. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground." Chandra's jaw clenched and she felt like she'd collapse in on herself from guilt.

"The flares?" Clarke glanced at Chandra. "No. That was a signal meant for our families, we had no idea-"

"You're invaders," Anya interrupted, her voice stone cold. "Your ship landed in our territory."

"We didn't know anyone was here. We thought the ground wa uninhabited.

"You knew we were here when you send an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him. These are all acts of war." Clarke swallowed, finally seeing from the grounders' point of view.

"I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."

"Lincoln said there are more of you coming down, warriors."

"The guard, yes," Clarke corrected. "But also farmers, doctors, engineers. We can help each other, but not if we're at war." Anya was silent, weighing her options.

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us, that they'll respect the terms you and I agree on?" Clarke visibly relaxed, seeing that Anya was heading in the direction they needed her to go.

"I promise that I will do everything in my power to convince them to honor the terms that we set."

"Why would I agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?" Anya's defensive walls were back up.

"If you fire the first shot, those people coming down won't bother negotiating." Chandra couldn't help but notice how she referred to the sky people as 'those people'. Did she not see them as her own people? "The technology they have- they will wipe you out."

"They wouldn't be the first to try," Anya challenged.

"Clarke," A shout came from the trees by the bridge. "Run!"

"Jasper?" Chandra whispered. She noticed the gun in his hand. "No!" He began shooting, and in retaliation, so did the grounders. Anya and Chandra met eyes, and Anya's were full of disgust. Chandra's heart clenched, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Chandra, run!" Clarke's scream brought her back, but a split second after, an arrow hit her in her thigh. She barely had a second to register the pain before another arrow sliced into her side. She collapsed on her knees, gasping for breath. She mustered the energy to break the sticks of the arrows, leaving the heads in for later removal. She tried take a step, but crumpled on the ground again.

"Chandra, c'mon!" Bellamy stood over her, a gun slung over his shoulder. He looked panicked. He grabbed Chandra's arm, throwing it over his shoulder and began dragging her away from the bridge. They narrowly dodged arrows and rocks and managed to make it to the cover of the trees. Chandra struggled to move quickly, and Bellamy was growing impatient.

"Chandra, run faster!" He barked.

"I'm trying!" Chandra screeched back. Finally, Bellamy let out an exasperated growl, reaching down and sweeping Chandra's legs out from under her. Chandra let out a little yelp, instinctively wrapping her arms around Bellamy's neck. "What are you doing?"

"Saving you," Bellamy snapped. "Now shut up." Chandra stared at the side of Bellamy's face, which was twisted in concentration as he tried to get the both of them back to camp safely. She bit her lip, feeling his hand around her waist, holding her up. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, hoping he couldn't feel the pounding of her heart.

They arrived back at camp, and Bellamy kept her in his arms as he walked towards the others huddled just inside the entrance. He glanced down at Chandra, who was still gazing up at him. They locked eyes, and Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows at the intense look in her eyes. Chandra unlocked her arms from his neck, sliding her hands down his chest as their eyes stayed on each other's. Bellamy set her down slowly once they arrived to the group, keeping his arm around her waist to steady her.

Clarke was glaring at Finn. "You got anything to say?"

"Yeah," Finn said just as fiercely. "I told you no guns!"

"I told you we couldn't trust the grounders," Clarke argued. "I was right." Raven interrupted.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" _Maybe because it didn't really concern you,_ Chandra thought to herself.

"I tried," Finn defended. "But you were too busy making bullets for your gun."

"You're lucky she brought that," Bellamy roared from beside Chandra. "They came there to kill you, Finn."

"You don't know that!" Finn shook his head, glaring at Jasper. "Jasper fired the first shot." Chandra scowled, looking at Jasper, who glanced at her. She shoved Bellamy's arm off her, keeping her glare pointed at Jasper.

"You ruined everything," she growled, limping past him. She ignored the wounded look on his face."

"I saved you," he called after her. "You're welcome!" She whipped around.

"You put this whole camp in danger!" She screamed. "For what? Me? They weren't gonna kill me! Even if they did, so what? Let them!" Her eyes were wide and she shook with anger. "You. Ruined. _Everything." _ With that, she turned back around and started to head back to the dropship. She paused when she heard an explosion. A ship was falling from the sky.

"The Exodus ship?" Bellamy turned to Clarke. "Your mom's early." Chandra narrowed her eyes. Something was wrong. Clarke noticed it too.

"Wait," she murmured. "Too fast. No parachute? Something's wrong." Just as the words left her mouth, the ship landed in a fiery explosion. There was no way anyone could survive that. Clarke gasped, falling to her knees. Chandra felt a pang of sympathy. The last of her family was dead. She bit her lip, making it to the dropship and collapsing inside.

"Hey," she called to a boy who walked by. "Can you help me?" He was tall, with pale skin and shaggy blonde hair. He nodded, crouching down beside her.

"In that box over there, there should be some rags." She pointed to the metal box in the corner of the floor. "Get me a few of them. And get me a bucket of water." He nodded again, getting her the rags, then heading out to get her the water. She needed to get a good look at her wounds, so she peeled off her shirt. She was wearing a sports bra underneath, so her side was exposed. The wound wasn't too deep, and it was just a flesh wound, so it should be fine. She would have to stitch it up though.

The boy walked back in and handed her the bucket of water.

"Thank you…" She trailed off.

"Sterling," he filled in. "Jace Sterling." Chandra smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Sterling. I'm Chandra." She reached out to shake his hand, but winced as it stretched the wound on her side.

"You know what," she groaned. "How about we become friends later. Right now, I need the cauterize the wound. Can you start making a fire?" Sterling nodded.

"Yeah, I agree." He turned to leave.

"Wait, get me some of that moonshine too." He nodded, chuckling. He left and Chandra took up the task of cleaning her wound. It was still bleeding but had slowed considerably. She slid her pants off halfway to expose her thigh, and cleaned that wound too. Sterling came back with some stones, setting them in a circle and igniting a small flame in the middle. Chandra took a couple large gulps of the moonshine before thanking him. He smiled and left, and Chandra began working on healing herself. She took the moonshine and began pouring it over her wounds to sanitize them. It stung like a bitch, and Chandra hissed. She bit her lip, holding her dagger over the flames until it glowed red. She let out a deep breath, a strangled scream escaping her as she scorching metal touched her side. She caught her breath as she heated the flame again, repeating the process with her thigh. This time around, it seemed even more painful. The moonshine made it a lot more bearable, so she shouldn't have been complaining as much as she was. When she finally finished, she leaned her head against the metal wall of the dropship. She panted, trying to catch her breath. After a moment she began pulling her pants back on. She glared at the shirt in her hands, as if maybe it would appear on her torso. She took a deep breath, and began trying to pull it back on. She winced when the wound on her side was stretched, letting out an exasperated breath.

"Need some help?" Bellamy was standing at the entrance of the dropship.

"I thought it was rude to walk in on someone who was changing," Chandra snapped, and he scoffed.

"You're changing in the middle of the dropship, someone was bound to walk in anyway." Chandra rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't need help." She clenched her jaw. She pulled on the shirt, her pride getting the best of her as she ignored the searing pain ripping through her side. She gave him a triumphant smile, and he was looking at her as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Anyway," he continued. "We need someone to watch over the camp while some of us go look at the wreckage from the Exodus ship. You up for it?" Chandra nodded. "Good." He turned to walk out of the ship, and Chandra started to clean up her supplies. "And Chandra?" She looked up at him.

"If we can protect you, we will. What Jasper did wasn't wrong. He saved your life." Chandra shook her head.

"It wasn't worth-"

"Yes it was. You're worth saving." Chandra's expression remained stoic, her body language rigid. She watched him leave, an unidentifiable feeling swelling in the pit of her stomach. She had the sudden urge to cry, but she sniffed, retreating back into the dropship.

**AN: Ahhhhhh I just finished the season finale chapter. I don't know if I should write season 2 as a separate story or just keep adding it to this one, because the season 1 part of this story is only 9 chapters. Please let me know!**


	7. VII

**AN: guess whos back. back again. murphy's back. tell a friend. no but seriously the asshole's back and better than ever. there's some murphy/chandra/bellamy triangle shit and its amazing. It gets even saucier next chapter, and in season 2. enjoy.**

"The six hour shift is over," Chandra yelled, standing in the middle of the camp. "Switch!" The teenagers that were on watch duty handed their guns to the next round of teenagers. The day had gone by slowly, and most of the delinquents had taken Chandra's leadership role without much question once they were made aware of the magnified threat the grounders now posed. Chandra felt slightly out of place as a leader. Back at her village she had always been part of the background. The only time when she had stuck out was her time in the army, and that was because of the outstanding skill she exhibited at such a young age. But a leader? She wasn't born to lead. She glanced around, sighing as she realized it was getting dark out. She decided to make her rounds and make sure everything was going well. She frowned as she realized one of the people on watch had fallen asleep.

"Hey," she said softly, shaking her shoulder. She jumped, eyes wide and gun pointed up at Chandra. "Woah-hey, you're fine, it's just me." The girl dropped her gun.

"I'm so sorry," she said, stifling a yawn. "I haven't gotten any sleep in 3 days."

"How about you go rest for a few hours, I'll take over your shift." The girl sighed in relief, smiling at Chandra in gratitude. Chandra smiled back, grabbing the girl's gun and taking her frowned as she scanned the woods in front of her. Everything was silent, and only one gunner had 'seen' something all day, which turned out to be a deer. A few boring moments later, Monty and Octavia sat behind her.

"Hey," Monty greeted. "No sign of Bellamy and the others yet?" Chandra sighed, shaking her head.

"No," she replied. _No sign of anything._

"Hey, look," Octavia pointed towards Jasper, who was surrounded by a small group of girls.

"Jasper," one of them, Harper, gushed, clinging to his arm, "tell us again, how'd you stay so calm? I would've been terrified." Chandra frowned. Jasper smiled cockily.

"Fear is only a problem if you let it stop you, right?" Chandra scoffed, shifting the gun on her shoulder and searching the woods again.

"That's not even his line," Octavia sneered. "Finn said that."

"I saw the grounders in the trees," Jasper continued dramatically, "and it was like nothing I had ever felt. Pure animal instinct took over. One pull of the trigger, two grounders dead." Chandra ground her teeth at how he treated the death of human beings as some kind of major achievement to be praised for. She fought the urge to turn around and face him.

"'Pure animal instinct?'" Chandra mocked, keeping her eyes on the trees ahead of her. "More like pure pants-wetting panic." Octavia laughed at that. Jasper went on.

"You don't really know what you're made of until a moment like that, you know."

"What exactly are you made of, Jasper Jordan?" Chandra's voice dripped with acid as she muttered to herself.

"When it's kill of be killed and there's just nothing between you and the tip of the spear." Chandra couldn't take this.

"Okay," she growled, setting her gun down. She'd had enough. "This has got to stop." She began charging towards Jasper, but Monty grabbed her arm.

"C'mon," he pleaded, but Chandra shoved his hand off of her. "Let us have this."

"Us?" Octavia questioned.

"Look at him," Monty retorted, and Octavia and Chandra did. It only made them angrier. "The boy's a folk hero. They even gave us a bigger tent." Suddenly, there was loud clattering to her left. In a second, her gun was back in her hands and she was rushing towards the noise.

"Somebody hit the tripwire!" Connor told Chandra frantically when she got to the scene.

"Which wire," someone cried. "Was it a grounder?"

"I don't see anything," someone else called out.

"Are you sure it was the trip wire?" Chandra turned to one of the people who had cried out.

"I got nothing," he replied. Chandra nodded, turning to Connor.

"Connor?" He shook his head.

"Something moved! There, there, there!"

"Lincoln," Octavia whispered at her side. Chandra's eyes widened as she realized it could be Lincoln. She gasped as gunshots sounded.

"Think I got him," Connor gasped.

"Let's go." Chandra ran through the gates and into the woods, ahead of everyone else until Octavia sprinted past her.

"Octavia, be careful…" she trailed off as she saw who had set off the tripwires. Someone was laying on the floor, covered in blood. Octavia crouched down and touched his shoulder, and he flinched, scrambling away a few feet before looking up at everyone. Chandra immediately recognized him.

"Oh, my god," she whispered. Murphy.

"No way," Derek said, just as surprised.

"Derek, Connor," she barked. "Get him inside the dropship." They hesitated. She reared on them. "NOW!" Her voice came out as a roar, and the two boy rushed to help Murphy stand up.

"Bellamy's not gonna like this," Octavia warned as she walked beside Chandra, following the two boys inside the dropship.

"I know," Chandra acknowledged. "But I don't really care what Bellamy likes and doesn't like."

Chandra crouched down beside Murphy, visually examining his wounds. His face was completely covered in cuts, and his arms were much worse. He was covered head to toe in blood, and his hair was matted with it.

"God," she exclaimed in horror. "What happened to you?"

"The grounders," Murphy croaked. Chandra stared at him with sympathy.

"Murphy? Where is he?" Just then, Clarke, Bellamy, and the rest of the group barged in. Clarke crouched down beside Murphy and began examining him.

"Everyone but Connor and Derek, out," Bellamy ordered. Everyone complied, except Chandra.

"Chandra, you should go," he advised. Chandra stood, squaring her shoulders. Bellamy was a full head taller than her, but she stood her ground.

"No," she said simply. Bellamy held her gaze, narrowing his eyes. Chandra glared right back, challenging him. Bellamy was the first to look away, and Chandra swelled with pride.

"He claims he was with the grounder," Connor explained.

"We caught him trying to sneak back into camp," Derek went on.

"I wasn't sneaking," Murphy defended. "I was running from the grounders."

"Anyone see any grounders?" Bellamy asked. No one answered. Bellamy raised his gun, aiming at Murphy. "Well in that case-"

Chandra jumped in front of the gun. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"We banished him," Bellamy declared. "And now we're gonna kill him." Chandra grabbed the barrel of the gun and lowered it. "Get the hell out of my way."

"No."

"Chandra is right," Clarke pointed out.

"Like hell, she is," Bellamy scoffed. "Clarke, think about Charlotte."

"I am thinking about Charlotte," Clarke said. "And what happened to her was as much our fault as his." Clarke reached down, grabbing Murphy's hand and holding it up. "He's not lying. His fingernails were torn off."

"They tortured him," Chandra realized. She whipped around to face Bellamy. "You and them should compare notes."

"The grounders know we're at war," Bellamy said. He then turned to Murphy. "What did you tell them about us?" Murphy swallowed, meeting Bellamy's eyes.

"Everything."

Chandra, Bellamy, and Clarke shared a troubled look.

Clarke turned her back on Murphy, facing the rest of the people in the room. "Once he's better, we found out what he knows, and then he's out of here, okay?"

"What if he refuses to leave, huh?" Bellamy argued. "What do we do with him then?" Clarke squared her jaw.

"Then we kill him." Chandra's jaw dropped, and she looked back to Murphy, who had obviously heard the whole thing. Bellamy accepted it, and left the dropship. Clarke followed, and everyone followed her. Chandra gave one last apologetic look to Murphy, before storming out of the ship. She decided to walk around and try to blow off some steam. She came across a large tent, and scoffed as she realized it was Jasper and Monty's upgraded one. She contemplated pulling out one of the ropes that held it together, but decided against it.

"Don't tell me you're still holding out for Chandra." At her name, Chandra's ears perked up. It was Monty's voice, from inside of the tent.

"I got to," someone responded. Jasper. Chandra bit her lip.

"Jasper," Monty reprimanded. "Chandra is not gonna happen. She likes her grounders alive." _Damn right, I do,_ Chandra thought. There was no way in hell she was going for Jasper until he fixed his attitude. Or at all, at least until the current war situation blew over.

"Go float yourself, Monty," Jasper snapped.

"I'm just telling you the truth."

"No," Jasper denied. "You're telling me your truth. I'm not like you anymore." Chandra's mouth fell open. What the hell had gotten into Jasper? Monty and Jasper started having an altercation.

"You know what?" Jasper finally said. "This is my tent. Bellamy gave it to me, and if you have a problem with that, maybe you should find somewhere else to sleep." Chandra's blood boiled at how much of an egotistical ass Jasper was being. Chandra sensed that Monty would be exiting the tent soon, so she scrambled to get away from the tent. She wasn't fast enough, and in her attempt to look nonchalant, she tried to lean against the wall of the tent only to realize that it was just cloth and almost fell over.

"You heard all that?" Monty didn't look mad, but almost amused.

"Uh," Chandra stuttered. "No, not all of it. Enough to know that Jasper is a dick, though." Monty laughed.

"You got that right."

"Clarke?" Someone cried out in panic. It was Connor. "Where's Clarke!" He started coughing, and blood splattered on the ground. Clarke rushed towards him, coming out of Raven's tent with said dark haired girl.

"What's happening?" Raven asked.

"Clarke, look," Chandra pointed to Derek, who was coughing up blood as well. "They're the ones who bought Murphy in."

"Raven, Chandra, get away from us," Clarke warned. Chandra took off towards the dropship, and as she expected, Murphy was on his hands and knees retching up blood.

"Murphy, look at me," Chandra ordered, keeping a safe distance from the boy. "I need you to tell me exactly how you escaped from the grounders." Chandra heard Clarke come into the dropship as she spoke. "What happened?" Murphy spit out the blood filling his mouth before answering her.

"I don't know," he gasped out. "I woke up, how you escaped the grounders. What happened?" Murphy spat out the blood filling his mouth before answering.

"I don't know," he gasped out. "I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there, so I took off."

"They let you go," Clarke said from behind her. Bellamy came charging in. "Bellamy, stay back." Chandra stood up, now that Clarke was here, she could take care of Murphy since she was already infected.

"Did he do something to you?" Bellamy demanded, eyes widening at the sight of Clarke's blood streaked face. "What the hell is this?"

"Biological warfare," Chandra explained. "You were waiting for the grounders to retaliate? This is it. And Murphy is the weapon."

"Is this your revenge," Bellamy growled, and Chandra placed a hand on his chest to keep him from attacking Murphy. "Helping the grounders kill us?"

"I didn't know about this I swear-"

"Stop lying," Bellamy roared. "When are they coming?"

Chandra shoved Bellamy, sending him stumbling a couple steps back. She took a softer approach. "Murphy, just think. What can you tell us that's useful? Did you hear anything?"

"They're vicious," Murphy croaked. "Cruel." Bellamy rolled his eyes.

"You wanna see vicious?" He jumped forward, and Chandra pressed a hand to his chest again.

"Hey don't," Chandra warned. "This spreads through contact."

"Do you know what it is?" Clarke asked. Chandra was about to respond, but Finn ran into the dropship.

"Clarke?" Chandra rolled her eyes at his timing.

"Finn, you shouldn't be in here," Clarke said, standing up. "No one should."

"What is this?" Finn asked.

"A hemorrhagic fever," Chandra answered. At that moment, Clarke stumbled, and Finn caught her.

"Hey, don't touch me," Clarke shoved Finn's hands off of her. "You could get sick. Wash your hands." She handed him some moonshine, and he poured it over his hands.

"Chandra," Bellamy called. "What's happening to him?" Derek was convulsing on the floor, coughing and retching up blood. Suddenly he stopped, and the silence was suffocating.

"Is he…"

"He's dead," Clarke confirmed Bellamy's suspicions.

"What do we do?" Bellamy asked.

"Quarantine," Clarke answered shortly. "Round up everybody who had contact with Murphy. Bring them here."

"And everyone they had contact with?" Bellamy obviously didn't think the idea would work.

"We have to start somewhere," Clarke defended. "Chandra, who was with you when you found him? Who carried him in?"

"Octavia was the first to get to him," Chandra answered, and not a moment later, Bellamy was running out of the dropship. He came back with Octavia.

"Chandra, you examine her, since you haven't shown an symptoms yet," Clarke suggested. "Still, try not to touch her." Chandra nodded, and started examining Octavia.

"Bellamy, stop breathing down my neck." Chandra snapped, feeling the boy standing uncomfortably close to her, concern for his sister radiating off of him. Bellamy didn't move. Chandra sighed, continuing her examination.

"Well, there's no signs of swelling or bleeding…"

"So she doesn't have it?" Bellamy interrupted.

"...which means she isn't showing symptoms," Chandra finished snarkily, glaring at Bellamy. "But that could change. We need to keep her here just in case."

"No way," Bellamy protested. "Look at this place, she'll get sick just being here."

"Do you want to stop the spread or not?" Clarke snapped. "Look, we'll keep her on the third level with the people who aren't symptomatic yet. Think of it as way to stop her from sneaking out again."

"Screw you, Clarke," Octavia spat.

"I'll let you know if her condition changes," Clarke went on, ignoring Octavia. Bellamy nodded, and left the dropship again. Octavia begrudgingly climbed up the ladder, and Clarke turned to Chandra.

"You should stay here too, just in case," Clarke advised.

"But I didn't even touch him," Chandra protested. Clarke gave her a look that was so mother-like that Chandra fought the urge to laugh. "Fine."

"So what do you know about this disease," Clarke questioned. Chandra shrugged.

"It was developed way before I was a healer, so I don't know much," Chandra explained. "All I know is is that it isn't supposed to be lethal but… obviously that isn't entirely true. It's supposed to be used to soften the battlefield. As for a cure?" She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck. "I have no idea. I don't know enough about it. But I doubt there is one."

"Okay," Clarke nodded. "We're gonna need Octavia to sneak out again." Chandra smirked.

"Alright, shows over," Bellamy was saying at the opening of the dropship. "Get back to your posts." The crowd of teens scattered. He turned back to the dropship, facing Chandra. "You got enough good in there, water?"

Chandra nodded. "Yeah. Some medicine would be nice though."

"I'll see what I can do," Bellamy said softly, a smile gracing his lips. "How's Octavia?"

"Bellamy…" Chandra swallowed. "She's not here. Clarke and I sent her to go see Lincoln." Bellamy's expression grew livid. "Look, if there's a cure, he has it. I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let her go." Bellamy squared his shoulders, standing as close to Chandra as he dared, towering over her.

"If anything happens to her, you and me are gonna have some problems." Chandra swallowed thickly. A commotion in the camp caused the two of them to look over. A small ripple of disturbance grew into full on chaos as people started coughing up blood and screaming. Chandra ran forward to help, but someone pointed a gun straight at her face, causing her to freeze in her tracks. Bellamy jumped in front of her.

"Put that gun down," he growled. "Put it down!" Bellamy knocked the gun out of the boy's hands. Clarke smiled at him gratefully. She started rushing as many people as she could back into the dropship.

"This is exactly what the grounders want," Bellamy announced. "They don't have to kill us if we kill each other first."

"They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus," Clarke threw back.

"Get back in the dropship," Bellamy spat at the two of them. "Oh, and not to state the obvious, but your quarantine isn't working." Clarke didn't respond because she swooned from a sudden wave of dizziness, and Finn caught her.

"Finn, don't touch her," Chandra said.

Clarke tried to push Finn's hands off her. "Hey, let me go. I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Finn disagreed.

"Octavia will come back with a cure," the blonde insisted. Almost as if on cue, Octavia ran forward.

"There is no cure," she announced, and a panicked murmur spread through the crowd. "But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill.

"Really?" Bellamy gestured to the few killed by the disease. "Tell that to them. I warned you about seeing that grounder again."

"Yeah?" Octavia challenged. "Well, I have a warning for you too. The grounders are coming." The camp murmurs intensified. "And they're attacking at first light." She reached forward, helping Finn lift Clarke. "I'll help you get Clarke into the dropship." Chandra watched helplessly at the small amount of healthy people left in the camp. She turned to Bellamy.

"Don't worry about Octavia," she said. "She hasn't gotten sick yet, even though she came in contact with the disease. She's probably immune." Bellamy nodded, but his brow still stayed furrowed.

"We need to start preparing," he said. "I'll go see how many bullets Raven's made so far." Chandra nodded, and watched him head off. She sat down on the metal door of the dropship, and put her head in her hands. She knew how the grounder fought. And the small group of untrained teenagers stood no chance. They needed time. And people. All of them were barely enough, and now that over half of them were sick, they had exactly zero chance of surviving. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Bellamy stumbling over to the dropship. His face was covered in blood and her heart dropped.

"Bellamy," she whispered. "Oh, no. Bellamy, get in the dropship!" He climbed the door into the dropship, but barely made it 5 feet before collapsing. Chandra instinctively caught him.

"Chandra, no, let me go," Bellamy gasped. "You'll get sick."

"I really don't care," Chandra replied, dragging him somewhere so he could lie down.

"Where's Octavia?" Chandra sighed, spotting Octavia running around and trying to help as many people as she could. Her eyes widened in panic as she spotted her brother, but Chandra nodded, letting her know she was handling it. Octavia smiled at her in thanks. "Don't worry, she's fine. I got you." Chandra absentmindedly began brushing his hair away from his face.

"I'm scared," Bellamy gasped out. Chandra bit her lip, and lifted Bellamy's head off of the cold metal floor and onto her lap. He closed his eyes.

"It's okay, Bellamy," she soothed. "You'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know," Bellamy sighed. "Because I'd do the same for you." Bellamy's eyes were closed, so he didn't see the surprised look on Chandra's face as she gazed down at him. "I'm glad you're here." Chandra's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled.

"Just get some rest now, okay?" She continued stroking his hair, lulling him to sleep. She stayed with him even after he had fallen asleep, smiling down at him. She frowned, however, when a droplet of blood landed on his shoulder. Another followed, and Chandra reached up to her nose. When she pulled away, her fingers came away bloody. Her stomach dropped as she laid Bellamy's head down on his jacket before trying to stand up, but a wave of dizziness knocked her off of her feet. Before she hit the ground, arms wrapped around her.

"Woah, take it easy," Murphy warned, helping her steady herself. He led her to an open spot on the ground and laid her down

"Thanks," she muttered, wincing at the pain in her chest.

"No problem," he quipped. "The least I could do after you helped me." Chandra smiled as she remembered the night he had been banished.

"You don't deserve any of this," she whispered. Murphy looked away.

"You don't know that." Chandra shook her head.

"I do," she insisted. "No one deserves to be tortured. How long did you last?"

"Three days," Murphy murmured.

"Three days," Chandra repeated. "For three days, you stayed quiet. To protect the people you owe no loyalty to, after they hung and banished you. You don't deserve how they treat you." Murphy met her eyes, and she saw unshed tears swimming around in his. Suddenly, she was taken over by a coughing fit, and she trembled as blood poured out of her mouth.

"Woah, woah, turn on your side!" Murphy helped her turn over, and she convulsed as blood splattered from her mouth. She felt as if she was being turned inside out, and her small frame was sweating from the exertion. Her eyes started watering from the pain, and her gags turned into sobs. Murphy's hands ran up and down her back, murmuring words of comfort. Once she finally stopped, Murphy grabbed her chin tenderly, then used a rag to wipe the blood from her mouth. He grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her sit up against the wall.

"Thank you," she managed to say.

Murphy nodded. "I'll go get you some water." Chandra watched him leave, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. From what she had been told, Murphy was an egotistical psychopath, but from her experience with him so far, that didn't seem to be the case. Then again, maybe his time with the grounders had changed him. But that night out in the woods, he seemed like an okay guy, despite being a bit cocky. But it all seemed to be an act. He didn't seem nearly as bad as he had been described. Or maybe that was just what everyone else thought of him.

Murphy walked back to her with a cup full of water, and Chandra reached for it but instead of handing it to her, he held it up to her lips. She kept her eyes on his as she tilted her head back and drank, and once she was done, he pulled it away and set it beside her thigh. She licked her lips, becoming aware of how he was still covered in his own blood.

"You know," she started, her voice hoarse. "Once I get better, remind me to get you cleaned up. I can't imagine how gross it must feel to be caked in blood for so long." She meant it as a joke, but Murphy's smile was sad as he sat beside her with his back to the wall.

"I'm used to it." Chandra's smile fell and she was taken over by a wave of sympathy. She said nothing, instead leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Get some sleep," he murmured. Chandra didn't have to be told twice.

When she woke up, the warmth at her side was gone and instead her head was resting on a rolled up jacket. She looked around and saw that Murphy was up and about, tending to the other people in the dropship. Chandra already felt better; the ache in her chest was gone and so was her nausea. Her nose and ears had stopped bleeding a well. She still felt a little dizzy and weak, though. She heard Bellamy groan and looked over to see him waking up. Murphy noticed too, and brought a cup full of water over to him.

"Here," Murphy offered the cup to him. Bellamy didn't hesitate to push it away from him.

"Get the hell away from me," Bellamy growled stubbornly. Murphy sighed.

"Bellamy, you're sick, okay?" Murphy held out the cup again. "I'm just trying to help." Bellamy ignored the cup, and glared at Murphy.

"When I get better," he warned, "if you're still here-"

"Oh quit it, Bellamy," Chandra groaned. "You're so dramatic." She heaved herself up and shuffled over to the two.

"Hey," Chandra said softly, taking the cup from Murphy. "I got this." She smiled at him and he nodded, walking off to tend to someone else. She handed Bellamy the cup, who took it. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Bellamy grunted, looking between Chandra and Murphy's retreating form with furrowed eyebrows.

"That's good."

"You see Octavia?"

"She was up all night helping people," Chandra replied. "Murphy gave her a break." Bellamy scowled, glaring at Murphy over her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you trust him now." Chandra shook her head.

"I don't know him well enough to trust him," she corrected. "But I don't see a reason not to."

"That's because you don't know what he's done," he growled.

"No, I know exactly what he's apparently done," she snapped. "And I think you're being over-dramatic." Clarke walked in at that moment, cutting Bellamy off from whatever he was planning on saying.

"It's almost dawn," she observed. "Better get everyone inside. If we lock the doors, maybe the grounders will think we're not home."

"Not everyone is sick," Bellamy countered.

"Sick is better than dead," Clarke answered with finality. Bellamy narrowed his eyes.

"You don't think Finn and Jasper are gonna pull it off."

Chandra raised her eyebrows. "Pull what off?" Bellamy and Clarke ignored her.

"Do you?" Clarke asked. Bellamy didn't answer. "I'll get everyone inside." She left, and Chandra turned to Bellamy. He stood up, and she got up with him.

"Bellamy." He didn't look at her. "Bellamy!" She grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her. "Bellamy, what are Jasper and Finn doing?" Bellamy shook his arm out of her grasp and walked off the dropship. "BELLAMY!" She followed him off of the dropship.

"Bellamy, what-" She'd barely stepped off the dropship when an explosion shook the ground under her. A mushroom cloud of fire and smoke erupted into the sky, and Chandra knew exactly where from. The bridge. To buy themselves more time, they blew up and bridge. Chandra's jaw dropped in horror. In an explosion like that, there was no doubt that the death toll was high.

"Oh, my God," she gasped, stumbling forward. She fell to her knees beside Bellamy, tears streaming down her face. She buried her face in her hands, stifling her sobs.

Bellamy watched her from the corner of his eyes.

"I am become death," Clarke said from beside him. "Destroyer of worlds." Bellamy's eyes remained on Chandra's form on the ground beside him.

"It's Oppenheimer," he muttered, distractedly. "The man who built the first A-Bomb." Bellamy felt Clarke look at him in surprised. "I know who Oppenheimer is." Clarke smiled, but Bellamy didn't look at her. Instead, he bit his lip, his hand held out to his side, inches from Chandra's shoulder. His hand itched to rest on it, to give her comfort, but instead, he forced his hand back to his side and walked away towards the gate, where he knew the others would be returning soon from.

Chandra remained on her knees on the ground, watching the smoke dissipate as she stared at the sky. Her cheeks were stained with dried tears, and her eyes were still red rimmed. She didn't know how long she'd stayed there, but she finally moved when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Chandra," Murphy called, shaking her shoulder. Chandra looked up at him, blinking rapidly until she recognized the panic look on his face. "He's dead. Connor's dead." Chandra stood up, remembering who Connor was. He was one of the first to get sick, but one of the last to get better. She let Murphy guide her to where his body was.

Chandra crouched down in front of him, sighed, and closed his eyes.

"He started coughing really hard," Murphy explained, "and then he just… stopped." Chandra nodded, but furrowed her eyebrows as she examined Connor's lifeless face. She looked up at Murphy, then back at Connor.

"There's no fresh blood on his face," she murmured softly.

"What?"

Chandra shook her head, looking away from Murphy quickly. "Nothing."

Except that it wasn't nothing. If Connor had died from coughing, there would be fresh blood on his face and clothes, but there wasn't. But why would Murphy lie?

Chandra's blood ran cold as she remembered another fact about Connor.

He was one who tied the rope around Murphy's neck.

She looked back up at Murphy, who was staring at Connor's body, and took the chance to examine him. He looked tense, but that could be explained for a number of reasons. Her eyes scanned his body for tells, but she found none. He looked back at her and he narrowed his eyes at the suspicious look on her face. She forced her face to remain neutral and stood up, wiping her hands off on her thighs.

"Help me carry him outside," she said as she grabbed his legs. Murphy grabbed him by his arms and the two dragged the body outside and laid it with the rest of the deceased. A group of teens was already there, preparing to take the bodies and bury them in the makeshift cemetery. Chandra sighed, running a hand down her face. They lost too many lives to the sickness, and they would need every soldier they could get once the grounders reorganized and attacked.

"You okay?" Murphy asked, noticing her distress.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chandra lied. She coughed, faking a smile. "How about we get you cleaned up now? There's a river not far from here. We could take a quick bath and be back within an hour."

Murphy nodded. "Sounds good."

"Let me just grab my knife and we'll get going. I'll meet you at the gate." Chandra watched him walk away before she let the smile drop from her face. She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. She sighed before grabbing her dagger from her tent and heading towards the gate. She came to an abrupt stop as someone stepped in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bellamy crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows.

"Bellamy, I don't have time for this," Chandra sighed. "I'm going to the river. I'll be back in less than an hour."

"I don't think so," Bellamy declared. "You're not going anywhere alone."

"I've lived on this planet for nineteen years," Chandra hissed, getting annoyed. "I'll be fine. And who says I'm going alone? I'm taking Murphy." Bellamy's face darkened, and his brown eyes turned black with rage.

"You're definitely not going with Murphy," he growled. "I'd rather you go alone."

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Chandra warned. "I. Don't. Take. Orders. From. You. Now get out of my way." She moved to shove past him, but he grabbed her arm.

"I'm just looking out for you," Bellamy said, his gaze soft. Chandra suddenly felt very guilty. "I want you to be safe." Chandra pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"I'll be fine, Bellamy," she sighed, melting under his brown eyes. "Don't worry." She offered him a small smile, which he returned with a concerned look, before turning around and meeting Murphy by the gate.

"What took you so long?" Chandra shook her head.

"Nothing."

When they arrived at the river, Chandra took a seat on a large rock. "Hurry up, we don't have long."

Murphy started shrugging off his clothes. "Are you not getting in?"

"Of course not," she snorted. "Stop wasting time."

"C'mon. Get in, the water's great." Chandra rolled her eyes.

"If you don't shut the hell up right now, I'm going back to camp and leaving you here naked." Murphy made a face.

"I'm not naked, I've still got my pants on." Murphy gave her a smirk. "But if you want, I _could _get naked-"

"Just hurry up."

"Okay." Murphy got busy, washing the dried blood off of his self. Chandra looked at him from the corner of her eyes, examining him. He was skinnier than the typical grounder, but he still had muscle. He was handsome, though a bit awkward looking. His sharp features matched his even sharper tongue. And he was pale, almost deathly so. Chandra deep brown skin contrasted heavily with his. Chandra's couldn't help but find him attractive on some level. She bit her bottom lip, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. She looked away, busying herself by examining her knife-the intricate designs on the hilt that she knew so well, the slight bend of the blade, she even began counting the number of ridges on the jagged end.

"I'm done." Chandra looked up to see Murphy standing on the bank-still very shirtless. The morning sun glistened on his wet skin and he almost seemed to sparkle. Chandra would probably laugh at that if she wasn't busy being flustered.

"U-uh-right, let's uh," she stuttered. She swallowed thickly, trying to ignore how his dripping wet pants hung low on his hips. "Let's head back." Murphy nodded, and, much to Chandra's relief and also her disappointment, pulled his shirt back on.

Once they were back at camp, Chandra turned to Murphy before he went off somewhere else.

"We've gotten all that blood off of you," she started, "Now we need sanitize your cuts properly so they don't get infected." Murphy nodded, following her into the dropship. She grabbed the tub of alcohol and placed it on the makeshift table. She smiled at Murphy, patting the metal of the table. "Take a seat," she ordered, not looking at him as she grabbed a clean rag. He did, and she turned back to him, dipping the rag into the alcohol. "Take off your shirt."

"Demanding," he smirked. "I like it." Chandra looked at him with the most bored expression she could muster, letting him know that she did not find him funny at all.

"Just take it off." He laughed, pulling it over his head. Chandra avoided eye contact with him as she began dabbing at his cuts with the alcohol soaked rag, willing her fingers not to shake. She began with the cuts on his arms first, putting off getting near his bare chest for as long as possible. Murphy hissed in pain as the alcohol seeped into his wounds

"Damn," he cursed under his breath, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. Chandra's breath got caught in her throat as she watched his lip slip out from between his pearly whites, freshly wetted and painfully inviting. Her eyes flickered up to his and realized he was watching her, eyes narrowed. She coughed, looking away and busying herself with sanitizing his wounds.

"You already did that one," Murphy commented, his voice just barely above a whisper. Chandra's hand froze; she was hoping he wouldn't notice, because she'd ran out of cuts to sanitize on his arms and really did not want to face his bare chest. She felt his eyes burning into her head, and she kept her head down as she responded.

"You're right, sorry," she rushed, wincing at how loud her voice came out in an attempt to fill the suffocating silence that hung in the room. "I didn't notice." Murphy didn't respond, instead making a slight humming noise in his throat. She weighed her options. She could tend to the wounds on his face, but the thought of being so close to this lips of his made Chandra's head feel light. So she rinsed out the rag and started to dab at the lines criss crossing against his chest. She pressed her lips together tightly, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. Unconsciously, as a way to reach his chest more comfortably, Chandra had moved so she was slightly between his legs, her thigh brushing against his knee every few seconds. The height of the table shortened him down until he was almost level to her, just barely taller. Every couple of minutes, Chandra would glance up at Murphy's for just a moment, only to see that he was steadily watching her, his eyes murky.

"Stop staring at me," Chandra chuckled nervously as she rinsed the rag again, done with the cuts on his chest.

Murphy snorted. "You're about a foot away from my face, what else am I supposed to be looking at?" Chandra didn't answer right away, stepping closer to him to clean his facial wounds.

"Excuses, excuses," she mocked in a singsong voice. Murphy scoffed, opening his mouth to reply, but Chandra shushed him. "Close your eyes. I gotta clean the cuts around them and you really don't want alcohol in your eyes." Murphy forced his mouth shut, complying to her demands.

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she slowly cleaned the scratches running down his face. They were deep, and he was extremely lucky to have escaped with his eyesight still intact.

Chandra's voice shook as she asked, "How did you get these?"

Murphys swallowed, his lips pulling into a scowl. "They put me in a cage, locked me in there with a big cat, big and scaly. Probably the worst night of my life."

"Lispontha," she muttered. She caught Murphy open his eyes and send her confused look. "It's a savage animal, probably what they put you up against. Keep your eyes closed." He did, and she clicked her tongue. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Chandra moved on from the cuts around his eyes and to the one on his jaw, and Murphy opened his eyes again.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Chandra admitted. "There was no way you could have fended for yourself. I should have known." Murphy's hands reached up and clasped both of hers as his light eyes met Chandra's deep brown ones. He smirked, though it looked forced.

"Bygones," he said simply. She frowned, before plastering a small smile on her face. She pulled her hands from his, and put down the rag.

"You're all done," she said, turning around and dropping the rag on the small table in the corner of the room. She felt Murphy walk up behind her and she froze, her hand instinctively landing over the dagger strapped to her thigh. She was taken by surprise, however, when hands rested tenderly on her waist. She felt hot breath fanning onto her neck and she shivered, closing her eyes. Murphy turned her around slowly, pulling her closer in the process. His forehead pressed against hers and her lips parted. Her arms rested on his bare chest as he moved forward ever so slowly, brushed his lips against hers. Chandra ached to move just another fraction of an inch and-

"Chandra!" The two jumped apart so quickly it was almost comical. Bellamy was standing at the door of the dropship, glaring at Chandra, whose face was so warm she felt like it would explode any moment. Murphy had pulled on his shirt in seconds, and was now looking sheepishly between the two, rubbing the back of his neck.

Bellamy cleared his throat. "I need your help." Chandra clenched her jaw. If Bellamy had just waited a _minute_ longer… Bellamy seemed to be struggling to keep his temper in check. "_Now._" What had gotten into him?

Chandra gave Murphy an apologetic look. "I'll see you." Murphy smiled and nodded, and the two gazed at each other with dreamy smiles on their faces. Bellamy cleared his throat loudly again, and Chandra suppressed a groan. The man was so difficult sometimes. She followed Bellamy out of the dropship, but the moment she was out of hearing range from Murphy, she reared on him.

"What's your problem?" She fumed, stopping in front of the campfire.

"My problem?" Bellamy's face contorted in rage. "My problem is that we're in the middle of a war, and instead of helping us prepare, you're busy screwing around with the one person I warned you about!" Chandra couldn't believe her ears.

"You think I'm not helping?" She was near yelling at this point. "You can't be serious. I don't even have the energy for this." She turned to walk away, but thought better of it, whipping back around to face him. "And you know what? I'm done with you trying to be all protective." She stalked forward until she was only a foot or two from him, glaring at his equally as fiery eyes. "I don't need nor _want_ your protection. I'm not Octavia. I'm not your sister. I'm not your girlfriend, I'm not even your friend. Back off, and leave me alone." She stepped back, watching as his jaw clenched in anger. She turned, leaving him fuming by fire.


	8. VIII

"Hey O," Chandra greeted, coming to stop next to the younger girl. Octavia stopped hanging the meat, turning to face Chandra.

"Hey," she smiled. "I never see you anymore." Chandra grimaced.

"I've been sleeping in the dropship," she admitted. "I wake up screaming and less people can hear me in there." It was true. Her nightmares had grown to night terrors in the past handful of days. Octavia gave her a sympathetic look, which Chandra ignored, busying herself with hanging the meat on the wooden walls in front of her.

The last two days had gone by quickly, yet agonizingly slow as well. The constant magnified threat of an attack was heavy on the shoulders of the 100, and everyone was scrambling to prepare in the short amount of time they had left.

Chandra hadn't spoken to Bellamy in two days, since their fight. He had tried to approach her a couple of times, but she'd been trying her best to ignore him. She knew fully well that what she had said to him wasn't true at all. She did consider Bellamy friend, even a close one at this point, but his irritating habit of meddling in her business was something she had trouble dealing with. Besides, her ego was getting in the way of her apologizing any time soon.

She hadn't spoken to Murphy either. He was compensating for his crimes by overworking himself, being as helpful as he possibly could. He refused to give Bellamy an excuse to throw him out of camp, and he was doing a good job of it. Chandra doubted he even slept at night he was working so hard.

"Let's get this party smokin'!" Del exclaimed, dropping more wood to fuel the fire. Chandra noticed him as one of the rudest of the delinquents, probably imprisoned for a violent crime. She opened her mouth to advise him against it, but Octavia beat her to it.

"You don't want the fire too big," she said distractedly, still hanging the meat. "So maybe try to knock it down a little with some wet leaves." Chandra smiled, proud at her knowledge.

"You learn that from your boyfriend, grounder pounder?" Chandra clenched her fists, feeling her anger swell at the despicable smirk on his face.

"She's right," Murphy interjected, walking into the smokehouse. Chandra felt her hostility deflate. Her face grew hot, and she knew it wasn't because of the heat of the fire.

"Can't take the heat, don't come into the kitchen," Del mocked. "Should be kissing our asses for letting you back in camp." Chandra stepped in front of Del. She glowered at him, pulling herself up to her full height.

"Get back to work," she hissed. Del squared his jaw, but complied, stomping out of the smokehouse. She glanced at Murphy after Del left, and he smiled at her, and Chandra bit her lip to keep from grinning as wide as she wanted to.

"Your brother couldn't help you get a better job?" Murphy asked Octavia as he helped the two of them hang the meat. "Would think anything would be better than working in a meat furnace."

"Oh, probably," Octavia sighed, brushing her hands off on her jeans before turning towards the exit. "Just means someone else would have to do it." She left, and Chandra and Murphy were alone.

"Hey," Murphy said. "Been a while since I saw you."

"Yeah," Chandra agreed. "We've both been busy I guess."

"Have you made up with Blake yet?" Chandra scoffed.

"Hell no," she exclaimed, walking out of the meat furnace, Murphy following behind her. "He's a dick."

Murphy laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd agree, but Blake would probably hear and use it as an excuse to throw me out of camp." They came to a stop near the outskirts of camp, next to a deserted part of the wall. Chandra smiled, meeting his eyes.

"I won't let him." She stepped closer to him, her eyes flickering from his steel blues to his lips. Murphy caught it and stepped even closer, until their chests were brushing.

"Hopefully Blake won't walk in on us this time," he joked, and Chandra laughed.

"Oh, God," she moaned. "That was so embarrassing." Murphy smiled down at her and she returned it. He brought his hands up to touch her cheek softly, and she found herself leaning into the touch. Her lips parted slightly, and she felt the gravity between them pulling them closer. She felt his breath on her face, waiting for him to move just a fraction of an inch forward and connect their lips. Their lips brushed, and she caught him smirking. He was playing with her!

"Screw you," she grinned, grabbing his face and connected their lips in a single movement. His lips were soft against hers, and he tasted like the forest smelled; fresh, yet natural. Their lips moved together in sync, molding to each other flawlessly. Chandra's hands connected behind his neck, running through the hair that'd dreaded slightly from going so long without being brushed. Murphy's hands were knotted in her own locks; a fistful of her hair was held tight in his large hand, while the other hand rested on her lower back, pulling her even closer.

When they finally pulled away, they rested their foreheads together to catch their breath. Dopey smiles decorated both of their faces.

"Fire!" The scream caused both of them to pull away abruptly, and Chandra wasted no time sprinting to where the commotion came from.

The smokehouse was on fire. Bellamy was making sure Octavia was okay, and he met Chandra's eyes for a brief moment before sliding over to Murphy, who was standing right next to her. She looked away quickly, her attention landing on Murphy, who ran from her side towards Del.

"This is all your fault!" He shoved Del, who looked unfazed. "We told you it was too much wood!"

"Get the hell away from me," Del shouted, shoving Murphy back. Chandra jumped forward right as Bellamy did to break up the fight. Bellamy held Del back, and Chandra placed a hand on Murphy's shoulder.

"Stop!" Bellamy shouted once the two had been broken up. Chandra had moved behind Murphy, slipping her hand inside his to keep him from erupting with anger again. Bellamy noticed, his face going stone cold at the sight. "Save it for the grounders."

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Bellamy seemed to have to physically peel his eyes away from Chandra and Murphy's joined hands when Octavia spoke to him. "That was all our food."

"Can anyone explain what happened?" Clarke questioned.

"Murphy says Del kept feeding the fire," Bellamy answered. "Mostly because Octavia told him not to."

"And you believe Murphy?" Clarke raised an eyebrow.

"I do," Chandra spoke up. Clarke's eyes, like Bellamy's, took in the sight of Chandra and Murphy's joined hands.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Yeah, okay. We have some wild onions and nuts in the dropship. About enough to last a couple weeks. What's left here?"

"Nothing," Bellamy groaned. "It's all burned."

"Fine," Clarke decided. "Anyone we can spare goes out to hunt."

"What about the grounder army?" Bellamy pointed out.

"We can't defend ourselves if we're starving." Everyone silently agreed with Clarke's point.

"Everyone who wants to go hunting," Chandra spoke up, her voice echoing throughout the camp. "Meet in the dropship in 5 minutes."

Once everyone was armed and ready, they started heading out of camp.

"Chandra," a voice called out from behind her. Chandra turned to see Bellamy standing at the entrance of the dropship. "I'm heading out." Chandra heart sank; there was a fair chance if he went out today, he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. The sun was already inching towards the horizon, and would disappear within a couple of hours.

"Why are you telling me?" Chandra put on a mask of indifference.

"Thought maybe you'd care," Bellamy admitted, a hopeful smile on his face as he gazed at her. "Seeing as how there's a huge risk I could die tonight."

"Okay," Chandra said simply. Bellamy faltered, and tried to hide the pang that resonated through his heart.

"Okay," he muttered, his eyes on the floor. "Well… I'll see you." Chandra nodded, turning back around.

"Bye." She heard Bellamy shuffle off of the dropship slowly. She didn't turn around until she heard another voice.

"Damn." It was Sterling. "That was cold." Chandra instantly felt her mood lighten.

"Get out," Chandra joked, and Sterling held his hands up in surrender. Chandra noticed the gun slung around his shoulder.

"You're going out, too?" Sterling nodded, and she sighed.

"Stay safe," she wished. "It'd kinda suck if you died." He feigned hurt, putting a hand over his heart.

"Just kinda?" Chandra laughed, shaking her head.

"Just go already!" Sterling laughed.

"Fine, fine." She smiled to herself, watching him leave.

The day dragged on slowly. The sun began to sink beneath the horizon, with no sign of the hunters or more importantly, Bellamy. Chandra and Murphy barely saw each other as they buried themselves in their work like the rest of the camp did. Everyone was growing hungry, and the nuts and onions could only satiate them for so long.

Chandra was working on building herself a few more throwing knives when a commotion grew from the gates. She ran out, sighing in relief when she spotted Bellamy.

"Thank god, Bellamy," she said before she could stop herself. "Was beginning to think you-" She was cut off when Bellamy walked right past her, bumping into her shoulder roughly. He continued on like he didn't see her, disappearing into his tent.

"-were dead," she trailed off, her voice small.

"I take my earlier statements back," Sterling said as he came up beside Chandra. He raised his eyebrows, pointing at Bellamy's tent. "_That_ was cold." Chandra frowned, staring at his tent. Bellamy was mad at her, and the thought bothered her to no end.

Bellamy had tried his best not to let Chandra get to him while he hunted, and being away from her for a few hours had helped. But when he saw her waiting for him, so eager, all of it came rushing back. He realized he couldn't do it. He couldn't not think about her. She plagued his mind, and he found her occupying his thoughts increasingly often and suddenly, she was angry at him. It took everything in him not to gather her up in his arms when he saw her. He pushed past her, determined not to let her into his mind again.

He was surprised to see Raven waiting inside his tent, and momentarily, Chandra was pushed to the back of his mind. "What are you doing here?" Raven shrugged, avoiding answering him.

"They don't waste time, I'll give 'em that." Bellamy raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What's it been, a day and a half?" Bellamy nodded as he realised she was talking about Finn and Clarke. He was fully aware of their triangle, and personally found it petty and badly timed.

"You've mistaken me for someone who cares," Bellamy shot back indifferently, shrugging off his jacket. "Time to move on." He started organizing his things, and unpacking his bag. Raven didn't reply, and he looked up to see her taking off her shoes.

"What are you doing?" She stood up, shimmying out of her pants before pulling off her jacket.

"Moving on," she said. "I've never been with anyone but Finn. Take off your clothes." Bellamy crossed his arms, giving her a disapproving look. "Fine. I'll go first." She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, and pulled off her tanktop, exposing herself to Bellamy, who kept his eyes trained strictly on hers, refusing to look down. Bellamy knew why she was doing this; she needed to take her mind off of Finn and thought this was the way to do it.

"If you're looking for someone to talk you down, tell you that you're upset and not thinking straight," Bellamy warned, "I'm not that guy." Raven refused to budge.

"Good." Bellamy stared into her eyes, about to refuse.

But Chandra creeped back into his mind, and he decided that he needed to forget someone too.

So he pulled his shirt over his head, and pulled Raven close.

Chandra paced in her and Octavia's tent, treading a hole into the ground. She should technically be angry at Bellamy, and his behaviour shouldn't bother her, but it did; she was about to tear her own hair out. Suddenly. Raven bursted into the tent.

"H-Hey, um," she stuttered. "W-We uh, we're going out to look for Clarke and Finn. Wanna come?" Chandra raised an eyebrow at her odd behaviour.

"Someone should stay and watch over camp," Chandra said slowly, still eyeing Raven. "So no."

"Oh, okay," she said quickly, shoving her hands into her pockets in a poor attempt to look nonchalant. "Well, the, uh, walkie-talkies are done so here's one so you can, um, keep in touch with us." Chandra nodded, taking the crudely made radio from her. Raven was acting very strange. Raven turned to leave, but stopped herself and faced Chandra again. She heaved a sigh, wringing her hands together. "I have to tell you something." Chandra urged her to go on. "I had sex with Bellamy." The words hit Chandra hard, but she kept on a mask of indifference. How petty of him, to just go and have sex with the nearest girl just because he was pissed at Chandra.

"Why do I care?" Chandra questioned.

"Because he screamed your name in the middle of it." Chandra's jaw dropped, and she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh my god," she gasped. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she laughed nervously. "'Cause I called him Finn five minutes later." The two burst out laughing. "Yeah it was pretty embarrassing."

"Anyway," she continued, when they'd recomposed themselves. "I gotta head out. Glad I could get this off my chest." Chandra nodded as she left the tent.

She let the smile drop from her face as she collapsed on her mattress, holding her head between her hands.

She had no idea what to do with this information. Bellamy had called out her name during sex? Was he attracted to her? That would explain how angry he seemed to get whenever he saw Murphy and Chandra together, or his overprotective behavior. Chandra sighed, rubbing her face. She couldn't decide if she should confront the man or act like it never happened.

"You _do_ know that this radio's been on this entire time, right?" Octavia's voice came muffled through the speaker and Chandra almost screamed. She pulled the radio to her mouth.

"Uh…" she stuttered. "Bellamy?"

"Right here," he replied. "Raven wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"How about you two talk about this in private," Jasper suggested. "You know, when the rest of us don't have to listen."

"That'd be a good idea," Octavia agreed. Chandra's face burned, and she almost felt like crying. Or laughing. She couldn't decide which one.

She made sure the radio's mic was off before heading to the dropship, looking for something to busy herself with. She decided to help everyone on watch.

She frowned as she noticed that everyone on watch had been on watch this morning as well. She pulled the radio to her mouth.

"Hey, Bellamy?" She barked.

"Here," he replied.

"What happened to the shift system I had set up?" There was a short pause.

"I got rid of it." Chandra closed her eyes to keep her irritation in check.

"And why, exactly, would you do that?"

"I don't think it's necessary."

"Well I'm putting in back in motion."

"No," Bellamy refused. "No, you're not."

"Bellamy-"

"You take orders from _me_, Chandra," Bellamy growled. "Clarke's gone. So as of right now, I'm your superior. You listen to _me_." Chandra swallowed.

"I take orders from no one," she replied menacingly. Suddenly there was some static over the radio.

"Is anyone else hearing this signal?" Monty asked.

"Just keep your eyes open," Bellamy interrupted. Monty ignored him.

"It's the same thing we heard in the black box," he went on."

"Dammit Monty," Bellamy cursed, and Chandra rolled her eyes at his irritability. "Pay attention. Do you see anything? Report." There was silence. "Monty, we're heading home. You copy?"

"Monty, can you hear me?" Monty still wasn't replying, and Chandra felt a pit swelling in her stomach. "Monty, where the hell are you? Report."

This went on for over half an hour, until the group made it back to camp. Without Monty.

"Did you find Monty?" Jasper rushed forward.

"No," Bellamy replied roughly. "We don't have time for this. You, Chandra, and Raven need to start setting up the landmines." He brushed past Chandra, leaving Jasper open-mouthed and hurt.

"Just ignore him," Chandra reassured. "He's in a pissy mood. We'll find Monty, Clarke, and Finn. Let's get these mines set up."

"These mines better work," Bellamy complained as he came up behind the three while they labored over the mines. "Cause with all this gunpowder we're wasting we could be making more grenades."

"Wanna come over here a test one?" Chandra couldn't help but snicker at Ravens snark.

"Cute," Bellamy retorted, unamused. "I need this entire section done by morning. Then you finish the south field."

"Hey," Raven protested, standing up. "I told you, we're going after Finn, Clarke, and Monty in the morning."

"And I told you, nobody leaves this camp." He turned away from her, but Raven followed him.

"I'm talking to you!" Bellamy paused, already looking done with the conversation. "We can't just abandon our people. You want to lead these people? Show them you give a damn." Bellamy opened his mouth to reply but a gunshot went off. Chandra and Bellamy met eyes, both filled with panic. Chandra was the first to arrive at the scene. It was Sterling whose gun had gone off.

"Hey," Chandra said softly, examining his bewildered face. "You alright?" He didn't get a chance to answer because Bellamy grabbed her and shoved her out of the way. She went crashing into Jasper, who steadied her.

"Hey," he yelled. "What the hell's the matter with you?!" Sterling shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

"Sorry man," he apologized. "I fell asleep, I've been on watch all day." _See if we'd been using my system…_

Bellamy grabbed the boy by his collar. "You've been on watch all day?! _I've _been on watch all day! That bullet was one less dead grounder!"

"Bellamy," Chandra said cautiously. "You're scaring people."

"They should be scared," he screamed almost hysterically. He let go of Sterling, who fell against the tree. Bellamy turned towards the growing crowd. "The bomb on the bridge bought us some time but that time is up. The grounders are out there right now, waiting for us to leave and picking us off one by one when we do. Clarke, Finn, and Monty are gone. Probably dead. And if you want to be next, I can't stop you. But no guns are leaving this camp!" He paused, breathing heavily. Everyone's gazes were on the ground. Bellamy ran a hand down his face before continuing. Chandra's brows furrowed, watching the passion in his eyes. "This camp, is the only thing keeping us alive!" He heaved a sigh, still panting. Chandra realized Bellamy's sour mood was because of how stressed he was. He wanted to keep his people safe, and he knew it was going to be a tough battle.

"Get back to work!" He turned and stormed off. Everyone stood in silence before getting back to their previous jobs. Chandra groaned, before going to the dropship. She didn't know much about mines, and knew more about medicine, so she decided to organize the medical supplies.

"Hey," a voice said, snapping Chandra from her thoughts. Jasper climbed up the ladder, taking a seat next to her. "How's it going?" Chandra smiled at him, shrugging.

"It's going." Jasper nodded.

"Do you think it's true what he said about Clarke and Finn?" Jasper looked away, his lip trembling a little. "And Monty?" Chandra saw the tears glistening in Jasper's eyes and her heart ached. She reached forward, pulling Jasper into a hug. She tucked his under her chin, and he clung to her.

"Don't lose hope," she muttered to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Monty's fine, I know it. He's fine." She didn't know how long they sat there, Jasper letting himself weep in Chandra's arms and Chandra whispering words of comfort into his ear, but when they finally pulled away Jasper smiled at her.

"Thanks," he sniffed, and Chandra shrugged.

"What are friends for?" Jasper nodded, before pulling her back into a hug. Chandra laughed as he released her.

"I'll head back down," he choked out. "I should get back to work." He grabbed the gunpowder and started heading down the stairs. His head disappeared, but a few seconds later, it popped back up.

"Chandra," he whispered frantically. Chandra crawled over to him.

"Jasper wha-" he shushed her, his hands shaking.

"It's Murphy", he hissed quickly. "He just killed Myles. He hasn't seen me yet. He doesn't know you're up here. Stay quiet." Chandra's eyes widened and her heart pounded. Despite her protests, Jasper continued down the ladder, closing the door behind him. She pressed her ear to the floor, trying to hear as much as she could.

"He stopped breathing," she heard Murphy say. "I was helping him." Chandra squeezed her eyes shut. He was lying. She heard Jasper continue down the ladder, but there was sudden movement and she heard a gun cocking. She prayed to whoever was listening that it was in Jasper's hands.

"Woah, woah," Jasper said softly, and Chandra knew Murphy was the one with the gun. "Just put the gun down."

"He tried to kill me," Murphy defended.

"Okay, okay," Jasper reassured. Chandra's admired how he managed to keep calm, his voice soft as to not startle Murphy. "It's cool."

"No, it's not," Murphy said. "You know what'll happen to me if you tell Bellamy." The last half of his sentence echoed from Chandra's radio, and she realized Jasper was calling out for help.

"Tell Bellamy what?" Chandra jumped as Bellamy's voice crackled through the walkie talkie on her waist, and knew Jasper's had gone off too.

"Murphy has a gun," Jasper said quickly. "He killed Myles-" There was a loud smacking noise and Jasper groaned; Murphy had hit him with the gun. Bellamy's voice came frantically through the radio.

"Murphy, what the hell are you doing?" Chandra heard the dropship's door closing. She and Jasper were trapped in there with Murphy. "Murphy! Open the door!"

"You try to be a hero," Murphy screamed, and the sound resonated throughout Chandra's body. "Jasper dies."

She pulled her knees up to her chest, shoving her fist into her mouth to stay quiet. She wasn't sure what Murphy wanted, or how he'd react to realizing Chandra was there, so she stayed hidden.

She heard shuffling and then muffled sounds from Jasper, indicating that he'd been gagged. Everything was silent for a while, the only sound was the thumps of Murphy's boots as he paced back and forth, and Bellamy's shouts every few minutes.

Chandra jumped when a new voice sounded.

"Murphy!" It was Octavia. "Murphy if you even touch Jasper, I swear to God, you're dead." The threat was sincere; Chandra could hear it in her voice. If Murphy heard it, he didn't respond. His pacing paused for a few seconds, but started right back up again.

"Murphy," Bellamy's voice came through the radio again. "I know you can hear me. All our food and ammo is in the middle level. You know that. You're leaving us vulnerable to an attack." Chandra glanced around at all the supplies around her.

"Yeah, well, in case you haven't noticed," Murphy shot back, "you're not exactly in control right now."

"Come on, Murphy. You don't want to hurt Jasper," Bellamy reasoned. "You want to hurt me."

_No, no, no no no no._ Bellamy was gonna do a trade. _That self sacrificing _idiot.

"So whadd'ya say," he continued. "How about you trade him for me? All you have to do is let him go and I'll take his place." Chandra dropped her head into her hands. Bellamy would get himself killed.

"How?" Murphy asked.

"Simple," Bellamy replied. "You open the door, I walk in, he walks out." After a few moments of tense silence, the mechanic whir of the door opening could be heard.

"Just you Bellamy," Murphy screamed. "Unarmed! Ten seconds or I'll put one in Jasper's leg!" Murphy started counting down and with every second, Chandra's heart pounded harder, faster.

"I'm here." Bellamy's voice inside the dropship sent a wave of anxiety through Chandra. The dropship door closed once again.

Chandra got up from the floor, shuffling towards the wall and leaning her head against it. She pressed her hands up to her face, willing herself not to cry. She tried to block out the muffled sounds of Bellamy and Murphy's conversation.

Bellamy was right about Murphy. And instead of listening to him, she'd yelled at him. She was the one who insisted on letting Murphy stay. And now, Murphy was going to kill Bellamy. The sound of a gunshot startled her, and before she knew what she was doing, she opened the latch and flew down the ladder.

"Bellamy!" She gasped. She scanned him for injuries, and seeing none, turned to Murphy.

"Chandra," Murphy coughed. "What… You know what, perfect timing." Chandra swallowed thickly, looking to Bellamy. He was staring at her, his eyes wide.

"Bellamy, you alright?" Octavia's voice came through the radio.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured. "Just a misfire." He then turned to Chandra. "You were up there the entire time?" Chandra nodded. "Why didn't you say anything? You need to leave-"

"Enough chit chat," Murphy interrupted, nudging Chandra in the shoulder with the gun. "Chandra, you can do Bellamy's job for him." He pointed to the belts on the floor. "Pick them up." Chandra glared at Murphy, bending down to pick them up.

"Now tie them together."

"No," Chandra growled. Instantly, Murphy pointed the gun straight at her head.

"Chandra, do as he says," Bellamy warned. Chandra scoffed, tossing the belts on the floor.

"No," she repeated, stepping closer to Murphy, keeping her eyes locked on his. "He won't shoot me. He wouldn't dare." Murphy squared his jaw.

"Chandra , _I can't take that chance_," Bellamy urged, his voice rising.

"C'mon, Murphy," Chandra urged. "Do it. Prove how big and strong you are. Shoot me." She stepped closer to him, grabbing the gun and pressing it to her head. "I dare you." Murphy smirked, lowering the gun. He stepped backwards, slowly. He stood still when he was about ten feet from her, his eyes trained on hers. In a split second, he raised the gun and shot Chandra straight in the shoulder. She screamed out, grabbing her shoulder with her other hand.

"Chandra!" Bellamy ran forward to help her, but Murphy pointed his gun at him, making him back away. He stepped closer to Chandra, grabbing a fistfull of her hair and roughly forcing her to look at him.

"Don't test me, bitch," he spat, shoving her away from him. "Now do as I say, and tie those belts together." Chandra bit her lip, refusing to cry.

"Please tell me it was another misfire," Octavia pled.

"No, he shot Chandra in the arm," Bellamy replied. Chandra stayed quiet.

"Chandra? She's in there?" She followed his instructions, tying the belts together where he told her to.

"What did I say about chit chat?" Murphy groaned. "And Chandra, you seem to be about done. How about you get up and toss it over." Chandra stood up, gritting her teeth against the pain in her arm. She refused to let Murphy see her weak. She glared steadily at him as she tossed the rope over one of the beams running across the ceiling.

"What do you want me to say," Bellamy asked as Chandra eyed the very noose-like rope hanging above her head. "You want me to apologize? I'm sorry."

"You got it all wrong, Bellamy," Murphy said. "I don't want you to say anything. I want you to feel. And then…" He paused smiling menacingly up at the rope. "I want you to die."

Chandra and Bellamy met eyes, both with identical expressions of fear on their faces.

"Chandra, go grab that stool for me." Chandra took painstakingly slow strides to grab it, taking even longer to drag it back. "Perfect. Now Bellamy. Stand on it." Bellamy did, looking very tired of the situation. "Put it over your head."

Bellamy licked his lips. "This is insane. The grounders could-" Both Bellamy and Chandra flinched as Murphy cut him off by firing another shot into the wall.

"Put it over your head," Murphy repeated. This time Bellamy did it without question.

"Chandra, come here," Murphy called. Chandra took her time sauntering over to him. He held out the end of the rope that was around Bellamy's throat. Chandra simply stared at it, her mouth agape. "Take it, babe."

"Are you crazy?" Chandra nearly screamed, disgusted at his endearment and his audacity. "No!" Murphy cut her off by pressing the gun straight under her chin.

"Do as I say," Murphy hissed, "or I blow your brains out."

"Do what he says, I'll be fine," Bellamy said.

"Bellamy, no-"

"Listen to him." Bellamy gave her a look that told her what he said was final, so Chandra took a deep breath, taking the rope from Murphy.

"Now pull." Chandra's hands shook as she tugged on the rope softly, trying not to hurt Bellamy. "Harder, honey." Her eyes burned as she pulled harder, seeing Bellamy's feet start to lift off of the stool.

"You're so brave, aren't you?" Murphy asked rhetorically. "I mean, you came in here, thinking you're just gonna turn this whole thing around, that you were stronger than me, and maybe one of your friends would come and help you. Well what are you thinking now, Bellamy? Hmm?" A strangled choking noise left Bellamy's mouth, and Chandra let the rope slacken.

"Did I say you could loosen it?" Murphy growled, yanking on her hair. "Pull harder!" Chandra bit back tears as she complied.

"You know I gotta hand it to you," Murphy laughed as the stool shook underneath Bellamy. One wrong move would knock it out of the way, and Bellamy would be left hanging. "You got 'em all fooled. They look up to you, almost as much as they look up to Clarke and even little ol' Chandra here. But, we know the truth, don't we? You're a coward. I learned that the day you kicked out the crate from under me."

"Rich coming from you," Chandra shot. "You're the real coward here."

"Weren't really complaining when you had your tongue down my throat a few hours ago." Murphy smirked and Chandra's eyes shot to Bellamy, who looked like he'd been smacked across the face. Murphy advanced on her, and out of fear of pulling the rope tighter, Chandra stayed exactly where the was. Murphy grabbed the rope from her, tying it up on a protruding piece of metal from the wall. Bellamy was now barely getting enough air.

"You," Murphy growled, grabbing extra ropes off of the ground, "need to be tied up." Chandra let out a yell as she punched Murphy in the face. He reared from the attack, but recovered quickly, swinging the gun and hitting her in the head with it. She was out cold in seconds.

She woke up to her mouth gagged, and her hands and feet tied.

"Isn't that what you said?" Murphy was saying as Chandra faded back into consciousness. Blood was dripping down her face from somewhere on her head, and she was seeing stars. "That you were just giving the people what they wanted, right?"

"I should have stopped them," Bellamy choked out.

"It's a little too late for that now." Murphy began pacing in front of Bellamy.

"You think they're just gonna let you walk out of here?"

"Well," Murphy said, scratching his ear. "I think the princess is dead. I know the king's about to die. So who's really gonna lead these people, huh? Me, that's who. And yeah, maybe I'll have to kill Chandra here." Bellamy let out something close to a growl at that. Murphy smirked at the reaction. "Or maybe even your grounder pounding little sister-" Bellamy tried to kick Murphy, but he ran back and started pulling on the rope, causing Bellamy to struggle even harder to breathe. Chandra squirmed, trying to free herself from her bonds, but they were tight.

A yelp sounded from below them, catching the attention of all three.

"Maybe that's her right now," Murphy grinned, shooting wildly into the ground. Bellamy screamed, and Chandra struggled wildly to get free. The gun ran out of bullets though, and Murphy grew panicked. Bellamy took the opportunity to try to pull the noose from over his head, but in one smooth movement, Murphy kicked the stool out from under him. Chandra screamed as she saw Bellamy swing from the rope, calling out a muffled version of his name. Tears flowed freely from her eyes at this point. Her throat grew raw as she screamed.

"Using your hands is cheating," Murphy ground out, ignoring Chandra's pleas. "Mine were bound, remember?" Bellamy mustered the energy to punch Murphy in the jaw, and he retaliated by punching Bellamy repeatedly in the gut.

The sound of the dropship door opening caused Murphy to make a run for it, climbing up the ladder. Jasper ran in and spotted Bellamy immediately, unclasping the rope and letting him fall to the floor.

"I'm fine, Jasper," Bellamy gasped when Jasper tried to help him. "Help Chandra." Chandra almost rolled her eyes at that; she wasn't the one who'd been hung. Jasper scrambled over to her, untying her hands and feet, and pulling the gag from her mouth as Octavia tended to Bellamy.

"Murphy," Bellamy bellowed, his voice thundering. It was the deepest Chandra had ever heard it go, and it sent chills down her spine. "Murphy! It's over, give it up!" He started climbing up the ladder, and Chandra followed him. Bellamy shoved against the latch, which Murphy had blocked with something. "There's only one way out for you now." Suddenly, an explosion shook the dropship and nearly knocked Chandra off her feet. Bellamy finally managed to break through to the top floor. On that level, dust clouded the air, making it nearly impossible to see. "Murphy!"

"Bellamy, look," Chandra pointed to the gaping hole in the side of the dropship. Murphy was sprinting away from the camp, and into the woods.

"Guy knows how to make an escape," Jasper commented. "Should we go after him?"

"No," Bellamy said, keeping his eyes on Murphy's retreating figure. "The grounders will take care of him. We're going after Clarke, Finn, and Monty. You and Raven were right. We don't abandon our own."

"Two guns, you and me," Bellamy continued to Jasper, walking towards the ladder. "Raven and Chandra stay here to build up defenses. We lost a day because of this, our gunpowder. Raven!"

"Bellamy, wait," Jasper called. Bellamy looked up at him. "Look, I just…" He trailed off, searching for his words. His eyes glistened with tears, as he took both Chandra and Bellamy by surprise by pulling the older boy into a hug. "Thank you." Bellamy stood there bewildered. Chandra watched the exchange, her heart swelling and her eyes burning. When Jasper pulled away, Bellamy nodded at him.

"Long way from 'whatever the hell we want'." Bellamy smiled at that.

"All gunners!" A voice came through the radio. "We got movement outside the south wall." The three of them scrambled down the ladder, running out towards the south wall.

"Someone's coming!" a voice cried out. "Get ready-Wait! Hold your fire! It's Clarke and Finn!" Chandra almost wept with joy as her favorite blonde and her favorite blonde's favorite brunette walked in together.

"Hey, we heard an explosion, what happened?" Clarke panted as soon as she entered the gate.

"Murphy happened," Chandra answered bitterly. Jasper shoved past her, enveloping Clarke in an embrace. The boy was really giving out hugs today.

"Oh thank God," he breathed. "Where have you been? Where's Monty?" Clarke furrowed her eyebrows.

"Monty's gone?" Chandra didn't have time to react to the news of Monty missing because Finn cut in.

"We need to leave now," Finn said frantically. "All of us do. There's an army of grounders, unlike anything we've ever seen, coming for us right now. We need to pack what we can and run."

"Like hell we do," Bellamy interjected. "We knew this was coming."

"Bell," Octavia breathed. "We're not prepared.

Bellamy refused to back down. "And they're not here yet. We still have time to get ready. Besides, where would we go? Where would be safer than behind these walls?"

"There's an ocean to the east," Finn explained. "People there will help us."

"You saw Lincoln," Octavia smiled.

Finn nodded. "Yeah."

Bellamy scoffed. "You expect us to trust a grounder? This is our home now. We built this from nothing but our bare hands!" Bellamy turned to face the growing crowd that was hanging on to their every word. "Our dead are buried behind that wall in this ground! Our ground! The grounders think they can take that away. They think that, because we came from the sky, we don't belong here!

"But they've yet to realize one very important fact: We are on the ground now, and that means that _we are grounders!_" The crowd roared in agreement. Someone screamed out 'grounders with guns', which seemed almost comical to Chandra.

"Damn right!" Bellamy agreed, feeding off of the enthusiastic crowd. "I say let 'em come!"

"Bellamy's right," Chandra agreed after a moment of thought. "If you leave, you may never find a place as safe as this. And God knows, in this world, you could be faced with something even worse tomorrow." Bellamy smiled at her, a smile which she didn't return.

"But," she continued, looking at him dead in the eye, her voice still thundering throughout the camp. "That doesn't change the simple fact that if you stay here, you will die tonight." Bellamy rolled his eyes, throwing his head back in exasperation. Chandra ignored him, turning her attention back to the crowd. "So pack your things. Just take what you can carry. Now." The crowd dispersed at her command.

"Help me," came a plea. Raven emerged from behind the dropship.

"Raven!" Clarke called.

"Murphy shot her," Bellamy explained as Finn scooped her up into his arms.

"Get her into the dropship," Clarke commanded. Bellamy grabbed her before she could go in though.

"Clarke, leaving here is a mistake." Clarke met Chandra's eyes over Bellamy's shoulder.

"The decisions already been made." Bellamy shook his head.

"Crowds make bad decisions. Leaders do what they think is right."

"Chandra is a great leader," Clarke insisted. "And I agree with her. What she's doing is right." With that she disappeared into the dropship.

"Bellamy," Chandra called, making the man look at her. "Let me take a look at your neck." Bellamy stood still, but looked to his right, exposing his neck and indicating that she could examine it. She touched his bruised skin softly, and he flinched at the feel of her cold fingertips.

"It's bruised pretty badly," she muttered, grimacing. Bellamy met her eyes.

"You should be worried about that bullet in your arm." Chandra shrugged.

"I'll get it out once we're safe. And away from here." Bellamy squared his jaw at that, looking away. Chandra grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Look," she reasoned. "I know you don't think this is the right thing to do, but forcing a bunch of kids into a fight they're not prepared for isn't resistance, or bravery. It's stupid."

"Running away isn't any better," Bellamy whispered back. "I'm not a coward. None of us are cowards." Chandra realized what Murphy had said had gotten to Bellamy, and she sighed, resting her hand on his cheek, her thumb stroking his cheekbone softly.

"You are not a coward," she insisted. "But right now, we need to keep these kids safe." Bellamy refused to look at her, so she stepped away, walking into the dropship.

**AN: Helloooo i hope you guys liked this chapter. A lot happens, plot wise and character wise. My favorite part would probably the interaction between Raven and Chandra in her tent, and the little mishap with the walkie talkie right after haha. What about you guys?**

**Don't forget to review! Your opinions and criticisms are very important to me.**


	9. IX

**AN: This is the same story, I just changed the title a little.**

Chandra sat with her back on the dropship wall as she watched Clarke tend to Raven. She grimaced at Raven screaming when Clarke pressed the red-hot metal to her wound, cauterizing it. Chandra was currently digging out the bullet in her arm, biting down on one of the bright red belts to keep from screaming.

"Need some help over there?" Bellamy called, eyeing Chandra as the bullet finally landed on the ground with a clang. It was covered in blood, like most of Chandra's arm and shirt.

"No," she gritted out. "Just focus on Raven." Bellamy reluctantly turned his attention back to Raven, and Chandra began the task of burning her wound to heal it. It took everything in her not to scream out, and she seemed to collapse with relief when she pulled the metal away from her arm. She ran a finger along the bright red and puckered skin, making sure it'd closed. She panted, strapping the knife back on to the belt around her waist, where a handful of daggers of various shapes and sizes were stored.

"How did Murphy even get a gun?" Finn asked, cradling Raven's head in his lap.

Bellamy sighed. "Long story."

"We got lucky," Raven croaked from her spot on the ground. "If he'd hit the fuel tank instead of me, we'd all be dead."

"This is your idea of lucky?" Chandra chuckled, and Raven smirked at her.

"Wait," Clarke interrupted. "There's rocket fuel down there? Enough to build a bomb?"

Raven nodded. "Enough to build a hundred bombs. If we had any gun powder left."

"Let's get back to the reapers," Bellamy suggested, handing Clarke a drawn picture of the beast. "Maybe they'll help us. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"

"Not this enemy" Chandra asked, perking up. "They won't help us. They're monsters, there's not a shred of humanity left in them."

"She's right," Clarke said, seeing Bellamy's doubtful look. "We saw them. Trust me. It's not an option."

"There's no time for this," Finn groaned. He turned to Clarke, lowering his voice. "Can she walk?"

Clarke shook her head. "We have to carry her." Raven looked extremely offended.

"Like hell you will," she choked out, trying to sit up, face twisted in pain. "I'm good to go-"

"Hey," Clarke snapped, pushing Raven back into lying position. "Listen to me. That bullet it still inside you. If by some miracle, there's no internal bleeding, it might hold until we get somewhere safe. But you are _not_ walking there. Is that clear?" Raven responded with a heated glare. Finally, she nodded.

"I'll get the stretcher," Finn volunteered, and started to leave the dropship.

"Can't run away fast enough, huh?" Bellamy taunted, and Chandra sent him a disapproving look which he ignored. "Real brave."

Finn reared on him. "We're not gonna win this fight, Bellamy. Get that out of your head. There's a difference between being brave and just stupid."

"Spoken like every coward who's ever run from a fight," Bellamy growled back.

"Do you really need this lecture twice, Bellamy?" Chandra crossed her arms. "Youre acting like a child." Bellamy scowled, stepping closer to her.

"Alright, that's enough," Clarke snapped. Bellamy didn't back down right away, instead narrowing his eyes at Chandra.

"Time to go," she tried again. This time, Bellamy stepped away.

"What if they follow?" Bellamy pointed out. "It's a 120 mile walk to the ocean."

Finn rolled his eyes, growing agitated. "We're wasting time. If he wants to stay, he can stay."

"No, he can't," Chandra disagreed, but Finn ignored her, rushing out of the dropship. Bellamy met her eyes. "Look, Bellamy, we can't do this without you."

"What do you want me to say, Chandra?" he asked bitterly.

Chandra paused, taking a step closer to him. "I want you to say you're with us. Those kids out there, they listen to you." Bellamy's eyes softened. He gazed down at her from beneath furrowed brows.

"They're lining up to go. They listen to you more."

"I gave them an easy choice," Chandra shot back. "But ten minutes ago, they were willing to _fight _and _die _for you. You inspire them." _You inspire __me_. "I'm afraid we're gonna need that again before this day is through." Chandra gave Bellamy one last look before turning on her heels and exiting the dropship/

"Hey," she greeted Octavia, who was standing just outside of the dropship doors. "Is everyone ready?" Octavia nodded.

"Everyone's by the gates, waiting for a command." Chandra sighed. Raven was carried past her, and Clarke was close behind. The gates opened, and everyone poured out. Chandra watched them go, intending to be the last to leave camp. She spotted Bellamy standing by the fire, the empty camp around him. She frowned at his forlorn expression, and shuffled up to him.

"You did good here, Bellamy," she said softly.

"Eighteen dead," he muttered, staring at the flames.

"Eighty-two alive," Chandra countered, grabbing his hand. She held his large one between her small and calloused ones. Bellamy didn't look at her, keeping his eyes steadily on their interlocked hands. "You did good." Their brown eyes locked in a meaningful gaze before Bellamy finally nodded. He pulled his hand out of Chandra's grasp and poured water over the fire, putting it out with a sizzling sound. The smoke billowed up, the same grey color of the sky.

The two walked out of camp side by side.

Once the two had caught up to the teens, Chandra sped up until she was beside Octavia at the front.

"Where'd you get that sword?" She questioned, eyeing the large metal weapon strapped to Octavia's back. Did the girl even know how to use it?

"Lincoln gave it to Finn to give to me," she replied, her eyes scanning the woods around her.

"Ah, Lincoln and I go way back," Chandra chuckled, and Octavia looked over at her with curiosity. "His father was my mother's best friend, and the first to find my father once he landed on Earth."

"Wow," Octavia smiled. "Everyone knows what Thindrel did before he took the extra pod down, but no one really knows what happened to him here."

"Ooh," Miller interjected sarcastically. "Is it story time?" Chandra noticed that almost all of the teens, including Bellamy and Clarke, were listening intently.

"If you insist, Miller," Chandra rolled her eyes. "Gather 'round children, it's story time."

"It all started when my father's pod landed on the ground," she began. "Lincoln's father, Ra, saw it and got to it before anyone else. He found my father, barely conscious, so he gets his best friend, my mother, Nandini, and they nurse him back to health.

"They keep him a secret for a few months, and during that time, Nandini and Ezekiel fall in love. Nandini gets pregnant, and when she starts to show, her village starts to ask questions. Meanwhile, Ezekiel is attacked by two grounders, and in the fight, one grounder dies. The other runs back to the village, and in just a couple of hours, Nandini's secret is revealed, and Ezekiel is executed for murder. And that's all there is to it."

"And what about your mother?" Harper asks quietly. Chandra sighed.

"That's a story for a different time," Chandra smiled sadly. Suddenly, she stopped, throwing out her arm to stop the kids from continuing.

"What is it?" Jasper whispered, eyes wide. "I don't see anything!" Chandra put a finger to her lips, silencing him. Her eyes widen as she throws herself onto the ground, narrowly dodging a shuriken. Instead of hitting her, it slices straight through a boy's face, killing him instantly. Everyone watched in horror as he fell to the floor.

"Grounders!" Jasper bellows at the top of his lungs, sending everyone into a frenzy.

"Back to camp!" Chandra screamed, herding the teens back into the direction they came from with Bellamy's help. "Move, move, move!" They pour back into camp, the shooters instantly taking their positions on the walls. Chandra and Clarke send each other panicked glances before climbing up to stand on either side of Bellamy as he tries to get a good look at whoever attacked them.

"Where are they?" Bellamy panted. "Why aren't they attacking?" Chandra closed her eyes, defeated, the thought hitting her at the same time Clarke voiced it.

"Because we're doing exactly what they wanted us to do."

Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive," Clarke explained, turning towards where Finn was standing.

"If it's just scouts," Octavia insisted ferociously, "then we can fight our way out. That's what Lincoln would do."

"We're done doing what that grounder would do," Bellamy countered, hopping down from the gate. "We tried it and now Drew is dead. Do you wanna be next?"

"Then do what _this_ grounder would do," Chandra snapped at Bellamy. "For all we know there's only one scout out there."

"One scout with insanely good aim," Jasper panted from his position on the gate.

"Clarke," Octavia breathed, looking at the blonde hopefully. "We can still do this." Bellamy also turned his gaze to Clarke.

"Looking to you, princess," he sighed. "What's it gonna be? Run and get picked out in the open, or stand and fight back?" Clarke jumped down from the gate, having made her decision. Chandra groaned.

"Clarke," Finn grabbed her arm. "If we're still here when Tristan gets here-"

"Lincoln said 'scouts'," Clarke interrupted. "As in more than one. Finn, they're already here." Clarke walked off, and Chandra scowled, turning to Bellamy.

"Looks like you got your fight," she growled, stabbing her finger into his chest. He looked down at her, his lip curling.

"Okay then," he muttered before turning to the camp. "This is what we've been preparing for. Kill them, before they kill us." Chandra examined the looks on the teenager's faces. They were terrified for their lives. A few were crying. Bellamy ignored their blatant fear and began barking orders. "Gunners! To your posts!" People began scrambling to get to their positions. "Use the tunnels to get in and out. From now on, the gate stays closed."

"Okay," Clarke said to Bellamy once he was done. "Now how the hell do we do this?"

"Thought you'd never ask." he answered. "Follow me." Chandra, Clarke, and Finn followed him as he led them to the dropship. They sat down at a table, and Bellamy disappeared for a moment before coming back with his arms full of grenades and other supplies. Raven was already there, looking like a child who'd just gotten yelled at.

"What's gotten you so pissy," Chandra joked despite the situation as Bellamy set the supplies on the table. Raven turned her unamused glare on Chandra. "Right, stupid question."

"We've got 25 rifles with 20 rounds each, give or take," Bellamy explained, walkie-talkie in hand. "Roughly 500 rounds of ammo. While you two were gone, we made some improvements. Thanks to Raven, the gully is fully mined."

"Partially mined," she corrected. "Thanks to Murphy."

"Still, it's the main route in," Bellamy insisted. "If the grounders use it, we'll know. She also built grenades."

Clarke eyed them skeptically "It's not many."

"Again," Chandra cut in bitterly, meeting Raven's eyes over the table.

"Thank you, Murphy," the two finished together.

"We'll make it count," Bellamy defended. "If the grounders make it through the front gate, guns and grenades should force them back."

"And then?" Clarke raised her eyebrow.

"Then we close the door and pray," Raven finished.

"Pray what?" Chandra scoffed. "That the ship keeps them out? Because it won't."

"Then let's not let them get through the gate," Bellamy said like it was obvious. He pulled the radio up to his mouth. "All foxholes, listen up. Keep your eyes and ears open. Inflict casualties, as many as possible. You can hold them off long enough to make them turn back. That's the plan."

"That's always your plan," Finn spat. "Just like the bomb on the bridge."

"Damn right," Bellamy reaffirmed. "You got a better idea?"

"It can't be that simple," Clarke whispered. She looked up at Raven. "You said there's fuel in those rockets, right? Enough to build a hundred bombs."

Raven shrugged. "I also said we've got no gunpowder left."

Clarke shook her head. "I don't want to build a bomb. I want to blast off." Chandra's eyes met Bellamy's as they realized what she meant.

"Draw them in close," Raven thought aloud, putting the pieces together. "Fire the rockets. Ring of fire."

"Barbecued grounders," Bellamy commented. "I like it."

"I think sometimes you guys forget who I really am," Chandra muttered. She met Raven's eyes. "Will it work?"

Raven sighed. "The wiring is a mess down there, but yeah. You give me enough time, I'll cook 'em real good."

"I need some air," Chandra breathed, exiting he dropship. Bellamy followed her.

"You okay?" Chandra heaved a sigh.

"I will be," she replied. "I hope."

"Hey," Bellamy said softly, grabbing her arm. "I know this must be hard for you. I understand, But you gotta realize that we're doing all we can to survive." Chandra nodded, and turned towards the gate. Bellamy kept a tight hold on her arm. "Where are you going?"

"To the outside ring," Chandra said obviously. "I'm gonna fight."

"No way," Bellamy refused. "When the grounders get here, the people on the outside ring are gonna get hit first. I don't need you there. Besides you don't even have a gun."

"Bellamy," Chandra argued, facing him fully. "I've been fighting for almost half of my life. I know the way the grounders fight, and I have my own weapons. I'll be fine." Bellamy searched her eyes for something, for what Chandra didn't know exactly. Finally, he released her arm.

"Fine," he said softly He cleared his throat. "Fine. Go." Chandra smiled, turning away from him. "Chandra, wait." Chandra faced him again, and he was staring at her, his eyes dancing with emotion and confliction. Chandra furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as Bellamy opened and closed his mouth, trying to decide on what to say.

"Please stay safe," Bellamy said softly, his intense brown eyes trained directly onto Chandra's. "We...No. _I_ need you." Chandra's heart hammered in her chest and she found herself lost for words.

_Say it back,_ she thought. _Why aren't you saying it back?_ She couldn't force herself to say the words. She knew there was a deeper meaning behind Bellamy's words. As the seconds ticked on without a reply from Chandra, Bellamy's face continued to fall.

"O-Okay," she managed to choke out stupidly. Bellamy looked away, wiping all emotion from his face.

"Okay," he nodded, avoiding her gaze. He brushed past her, and Chandra wiped a hand down her face. She was so _stupid._ She groaned, tugging at her hair before sprinting out to find an open position on the outside wall.

She found one between Miller and Octavia.

"Hey guys," she sighed as she got into position, ready to pounce at any sign of a grounder. Octavia examined her, and Chandra smiled as she saw the younger girl adjust her position so it was identical to Chandra's.

"Hey grounder babe," Miller greeted and Chandra rolled her eyes. Miller chuckled at her expression. "No, really. We should make half-grounder-half-sky-person babies."

"I'm half sky person, though," Chandra countered jokingly. "So our _hypothetical_ children would only be one-fourth grounder."

"Let's not bring math into this," Miller said. "I always hated math." The two laughed, but stopped when Octavia stood up abruptly, unsheathing her sword. She started off into the woods, but Chandra jumped in front of her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, O?"

"I'm gonna go fight," she said. Chandra smiled, despite the situation. She admired the young girl and her fire.

"Alright," she nodded. "Wait." She pulled the younger girl into a bone crushing hug, and sighed when she returned it. "You better stay safe. I don't need Bellamy on my case."

"You got it, big sis." Chandra's heart swelled at that, and she got back into position as Octavia ran off.

Five minutes later, Bellamy flopped down between Miller and Chandra.

"Where's Octavia?" He asked frantically.

"She left a little while ago," Miller answered. "She thinks she's a damn samurai."

"Excuse you, Mills," Chandra said, trying not to grin at Miller's reaction to the nickname, "but she kind of is a samurai."

"You see anything?" Bellamy continued, ignoring the two.

"No," Miller gritted out. "What the hell are they waiting for?"  
>"The longer they wait, the better," Bellamy said. "This is about buying time for Raven."<p>

"I see them!" Sterling cried over the radio. "I count two-no, 3- no wait, there's more!" Two gunshots went off.

"Who was that?" Chandra gasped.

"Sterling, I think," Miller answered. "South foxhole."

"South foxhole," Bellamy barked into the radio. "Report now."

"Yeah, yeah," Sterling answered after a moment. "We're okay. They didn't attack. It's like shooting at ghosts."

"There!" Miller shouted. "I see them!" He began shooting, but missed each time.

"Stop!" Bellamy roared. "Stop! Hold your fire!" Miller's gun began clicking. "Reload. Now."

"Those were our last clips. We should fall back."

"No," Bellamy growled. "If this position falls, they'll walk right to the front door."

"I know what they're doing," Chandra gasped. She grabbed the radio from Bellamy, shouting into it. "All gunners! Listen up! The grounders are _not _attacking. They're making us waste bullets. Don't shoot when they're running laterally. Do _not_ fire unless you're sure it's an , _do not fire unless you are sure it's an attack." _Almost instantaneously, grounders began running straight at camp.

"Here they come!" Bellamy bellowed. "Fall back! Get back here!" Chandra stood up, refusing to get back into camp. She was going to fight.

A grounder attacked her, going to punch her in the face, but she ducked under his arm and came up behind him, grabbing two daggers from her belt and stabbing into his sides, puncturing his lungs. She left him drowning in his own blood as another came for her, trying to kick out her legs from underneath her, but she jumped, simultaneously slashing her knife across his neck. His blood splattered onto her face.

"Hold your ground," Bellamy said on the radio. "If they get through the gate, we're all dead." She adjusted her stance, two dead grounders at her feet. She was prepared for many more.

She smirked, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Bring it on."

A grounder ran at her but she spun around, bringing her foot to the weak spot on his mask. It cracked and he stumbled backwards. She took the opportunity in his brief moment of imbalance to knock him to the ground. She jumped on his chest, sinking the dagger straight through his chest and into his heart. She grabbed the sword from his body, taking just a few seconds to adjust to its weight.

Another tried to swing for her face but she slipped under his legs, using the mud to her advantage. In one swift movement she jumped on his back, slicing off his head. She breathed heavily, looking down at the body. Chandra widened her eyes as the looked up. There were too many heading towards the camp. Chandra rushed closer to the gate, watching as the grounders broke through the outer wall.

"They've broken through," Chandra yelled into her radio. "There's hundreds of them! They're heading for the gate."

"Chandra!" Came Bellamy's frantic call. "Get in the gate. NOW! Everyone! Get into the dropship!"

"No!" Clarke protested. "We need more time. Gunners, stay at your posts. Everyone else, into the dropship."

Chandra ran into the gate, but paused as she heard an explosion. Momentarily, the battle was put on hold as everyone stared at sky.

"Is that from the Ark?" Fox asked.

"That _is _the Ark," Clarke gasped. Chandra's mouth fell open as she watched the Ark crumble, breaking into dozens of pieces as it fell from the sky. Within seconds, the battle was back on.

But it was put on hold once again when shrill war cries came closer to the camp. Everyone looked around in confusion. Chandra's eyes widened as she recognized the sound.

"Reapers," she whispered. The grounders and the reapers began fighting, and Chandra sighed in relief as she realized they had more time.

It didn't last long though, because soon, the grounders defeated the reapers and began taking down the wall.

"Everyone inside the dropship!" People began rushing in, and Chandra searched the crowd for Bellamy.

She spotted him by a foxhole.

"He's not gonna make it," Clarke cried.

"Bellamy!" Chandra screamed, her heart in her throat and her eyes burning. "Bellamy! Run!" Bellamy saw her and grabbed the nearest gun, making a run for it. Tristan intercepted him, knocking him down with a punch. He kept punching him, and everything seemed to slow down as Chandra's vision blurred with tears.

"He's killing him," Chandra gasped. Finn ran past her, trying to help Bellamy. He shot at Tristan. Chandra heard Clarke call out for him, but all Chandra could focus on was Bellamy. An arm grabbed her and dragged her back. It was Clarke.

"Bellamy!" She screamed hoarsely, trying to pull away, but Harper grabbed her too.

"No," she sobbed. "Let me go!" Clarke pushed her into the dropship, and she tried to make a run for the door before it closed. She was held back by the teenagers. She kicked and screamed, seeing Tristan standing over Bellamy, sword raised. Bellamy turned his head. Blood spluttered from his mouth as he met Chandra's eyes. The last thing she saw before the door closed was him reaching out for her, mouthing her name. She threw herself against the door, pounding on it.

"Open it," she sobbed, slamming her fists against the door. "Open it! Bellamy! He's still out there!" She didn't even care that Anya was in the ship, she let everyone else detain her. Her mind was occupied with one thing.

Bellamy, Bellamy, Bellamy...

The ship rocked as the rockets fired. Chandra slammed her head against the wall, sliding down it. Defeated. She weeped pathetically, tears streaming freely down her face. She gave a few more weak blows to the door before drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, resting her head on her knees.

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake by Jasper.

"Chandra," he said softly. "Wake up." She rubbed her eyes, which were swollen from her crying and cleared her throat, which was raw from her screaming. She glanced around. Some people were still asleep, while others were pacing. Clarke was pacing in front of a tied up and heavily beaten Anya.

Anya. The two met eyes. Anya glared at her, and Chandra looked at her indifferently. She stood up, sauntering over towards her.

"Chandra," she spat. Chandra didn't respond.

"There's no point in trying to hold on to your pride," Chandra said monotonously. "You look pretty stupid."

"That's enough, Chandra," Clarke warned. "Don't be childish." Chandra turned away, squaring her jaw.

"We should check out the damage." Chandra pulled the lever, and the sound of the door opening woke up everyone who wasn't already awake.

The smell of burnt flesh hit her hard. She felt dizzy for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. Jasper was the one who dragged Anya out of the dropship.

The air was dry and dusty, ash floating around in a thin cloud. Everything was grey. The sky, the ground, even the trees looked grey. Chandra's eyes darted to where she'd last seen Bellamy. A skeleton was there, lying on the ground. Chandra collapsed on her knees next to it. It could have very well been Bellamy. She bit her lip, forcing the fresh wave of sobs back down her throat.

Suddenly, canister landed beside her, red gas pouring out of it.

"Oh, no," she coughed, the gas suffocating her. She tried her best to stand up.

She took in a deep breath, trying to push away the black dots dancing in her vision.

As loud as she could, she screamed two simple words.

"Mountain men!"

Then everything went black.

**AN: oh my god guys. That's it. There's season 1. Oh my god. This part of the story is super short. The sequel will be up in about 2 or 3 weeks. I've been updating weekly, but I'm gonna slow it down to once every 2 or three weeks from now on, because of a few reasons. One, the end of the school year is coming up so I need to focus a lot more on school now! Two, this part of the story went by way too fast, I feel like I should have posted slower to, I don't know, savor it better? 3. This gives me a chance for Season 2 of the show to finish (finale this Wednesday guys, I'm so excited.) I'll post the second part of this story during the hiatus, then we'll see what I'll do during season 3 of the show... I might just end the story after season 2 somehow. I'll figure it out.**

**Anyway, please please please leave feedback! I want to know if writing a sequel is even worth it. Will you guys read it? What are you looking for in the sequel?**


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